Plants, Lichens, Fungi, and Algae Extracts and Derivatives with Antimicrobial Properties for Nutrition and Health

Dear Colleagues,

There is an increasing interest in food and natural pharmaceutical products that are healthy and safe for humans. Therefore, plants, lichens, fungi and algae attract substantial attention due to their valuable constituents and health benefits, preventing and treating various infectious diseases and improving consumer well-being. The variety of biologically active metabolites with antimicrobial activity indicates their possible suitability as food sources and pharmaceutical formulations.

This Special Issue is focused on, but not limited to:

• The antimicrobial properties of plants, lichens, fungi and algae used in traditional medicine, and current trends in biotechnology and pharmaceutical products for human and veterinary medicine;
• Novel plant-derived products with antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiprotozoal and antihelminthic properties;
• The relationship between antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of various plant secondary metabolites;
• The valorization of plant by-products for antimicrobial phytoconstituents extraction;
• Essential oils and other plant-derived product applications in food packaging to prevent microbial contamination;
• The impact of plant, lichens, fungal and algal phytochemicals on the gut and oral cavity microbiota for a balanced life;
• The most recent findings related to plant, lichens, fungi and algae ingredients as functional foods, helpful for infectious disease prophylaxis and complementary therapy;
• Case studies regarding the influence of plant-based medical nutrition intervention to prevent and treat various infectious diseases.

We are looking forward to receiving your valuable contribution.

Dr. Violeta Popovici
Dr. Emma Adriana Ozon
Prof. Dr. Andreea Letitia Arsene
Dr. Verginica Schroder
Guest Editors

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• antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity
• plants/lichens/fungi/algae extracts and derived products with antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiprotozoal and antihelmintic properties
• antimicrobial metabolites: quantification and characterization
• pharmaceutical formulation
• in vivo and in vitro testing
• essential oils with antimicrobial properties for the pharmaceutical and food industry
• functional foods, plant-based diet
• case studies
• prevention and treatment of infectious diseases with plant-derived products

Title: Spent Material Extractives from Hemp Hydrodistillation as an Enriched Source of Antimicrobial Cannabinoids
Authors: Simon Vlad Luca; Krzysztof Wojtanowski; Izabela Korona-Glowniak; Krystyna Skalicka-Woźniak; Mirjana Minceva; Adriana Trifan
Affiliation: 1 Biothermodynamics, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany 2 Department of Pharmacognosy with Medicinal Plant Unit, Medical University of Lublin, 20-093 Lublin, Polan 3 Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Lublin, 20-093 Lublin, Poland 4 Department of Natural Products Chemistry, Medical University of Lublin, 20-093 Lublin, Poland 5 Department of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 700115 Iasi, Romania
Abstract: In this study, the essential oil isolated by hydrodistillation from hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) flowers, as well as its post-distillation by-products, such as the residual water and the spent extracts, were investigated phytochemically and evaluated biologically. The volatile terpene composition of the essential oil was determined by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), whereas the metabolite profile of the by-products was assessed by liquid chromatography hyphenated with high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS). The cannabinoid potency was quantified by liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection (LC-DAD), while the fatty acid composition was evaluated by the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) method via GC-MS. The antimicrobial activity was assessed by the microdilution method, according to the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST), against a wide panel of Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, and yeasts. Pearson correlation test was subsequently used to identify the cannabinoids that might contribute the most significantly to the observed antimicrobial properties of the test extracts. Several cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol, cannabinol, cannabichromene, and cannabigerol, isolated from hemp extracts, were also tested against the same panel of human pathogens. It was concluded that the post-distillation by-products can be regarded as an enhanced source of antimicrobial cannabinoids.