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Structure Identification and Functional Mechanism of Natural Active Components (Volume...
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Structure Identification and Functional Mechanism of Natural Active Components (Volume II)

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Foods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 2597

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Guowen Zhang

grade E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
Interests: food chemistry; food analysis; interaction; mechanism of action of small compounds and biomolecules; inhibitory effect of enzymatic activity; food contaminants; bioactive compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, natural active components derived from plants have attracted widespread attention because of their abundant species and source advantages. With the continuous deepening of research, flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolic acids, polysaccharides, volatile oils, and other natural substances have gradually been recognized due to their extensive functional characteristics. Studies have shown that many natural active components have broad-spectrum biological activities, such as antioxidant, antihypertensive, hypoglycemic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anticancer, enzyme-inhibiting activity, etc., which are valuable sources of research and development for food functional factors and novel drugs. Therefore, the development of natural functional food materials and the identification of active substances have broad research prospects. Systematic studies on the structure of components, physiological activities, structure–activity relationship, and mechanisms of action for active components using modern scientific methods and experimental means are hot research topics. In addition, the explorations of the combined effects and mechanisms of various natural bioactive substances will provide a theoretical basis for the further processing and comprehensive development of resources from multiple levels and aspects. Recent advances also focus on discussions of their biological activities and stability in the food system and in vivo, which have important practical significance.

Prof. Dr. Guowen Zhang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural active components
  • antioxidant
  • structure identification
  • immunoregulation
  • functional mechanism
  • interaction
  • anti-inflammatory

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2574 KiB  
Article
Improving Soluble Phenolic Profile and Antioxidant Activity of Grape Pomace Seeds through Fungal Solid-State Fermentation
by Yuzhu Zhao, Doudou Liu, Jiaxuan Zhang, Jiaxin Shen, Jiamin Cao, Huawei Gu, Mengqing Cui, Ling He, Gong Chen, Shuwen Liu and Kan Shi
Foods 2024, 13(8), 1158; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13081158 - 11 Apr 2024
Viewed by 403
Abstract
Grape pomace seeds contain abundant phenolic compounds, which are also present in both soluble and insoluble forms, similar to many other plant matrices. To further increase the extractable soluble phenolics and their antioxidant activities, grape pomace seeds were fermented with different fungi. Results [...] Read more.
Grape pomace seeds contain abundant phenolic compounds, which are also present in both soluble and insoluble forms, similar to many other plant matrices. To further increase the extractable soluble phenolics and their antioxidant activities, grape pomace seeds were fermented with different fungi. Results showed that solid-state fermentation (SSF) with Aspergillus niger, Monascus anka, and Eurotium cristatum at 28 °C and 65% humidity had a significantly positive impact on the release of soluble phenolics in grape pomace seeds. Specifically, SSF with M. anka increased the soluble phenolic contents by 6.42 times (calculated as total phenolic content) and 6.68 times (calculated as total flavonoid content), leading to an overall improvement of antioxidant activities, including DPPH (increased by 2.14 times) and ABTS (increased by 3.64 times) radical scavenging activity. Furthermore, substantial changes were observed in the composition and content of individual phenolic compounds in the soluble fraction, with significantly heightened levels of specific phenolics such as chlorogenic acid, syringic acid, ferulic acid, epicatechin gallate, and resveratrol. Notably, during M. anka SSF, positive correlations were identified between the soluble phenolic content and hydrolase activities. In particular, there is a strong positive correlation between glycosidase and soluble phenols (r = 0.900). The findings present an effective strategy for improving the soluble phenolic profiles and bioactivities of grape pomace seeds through fungal SSF, thereby facilitating the valorization of winemaking by-products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure Identification and Functional Mechanism of Natural Active Components (Volume II))
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15 pages, 5277 KiB  
Article
Microbiome–Metabolomic Analysis Revealed the Immunoprotective Effects of the Extract of Vanilla planifolia Andrew (EVPA) on Immunosuppressed Mice
by Xin Zhang, Yunlong Li, Kexue Zhu, Chuan Li, Qingyun Zhao, Fenglin Gu, Fei Xu and Zhong Chu
Foods 2024, 13(5), 701; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13050701 - 26 Feb 2024
Viewed by 810
Abstract
This study investigated the immunoprotective effects of the extract of Vanilla planifolia Andrew (EVPA) on cyclophosphamide (Cy)-induced immunosuppression in mice. The results show that EVPA administration significantly alleviated the immune damage induced by Cy, as evidenced by an improved body weight, organ index, [...] Read more.
This study investigated the immunoprotective effects of the extract of Vanilla planifolia Andrew (EVPA) on cyclophosphamide (Cy)-induced immunosuppression in mice. The results show that EVPA administration significantly alleviated the immune damage induced by Cy, as evidenced by an improved body weight, organ index, and colonic injury. A further analysis of microbial diversity revealed that the EVPA primarily increased the abundance of the beneficial bacteria Verrucomicrobiota, Lactobacillaceae, and Lactobacillus while decreasing Akkermansiaceae, Akkermansia, Romboutsia, and Lactococcus, thereby ameliorating the microbial dysbiosis caused by Cy. A metabolomic analysis revealed significant alterations in the microbial metabolite levels after EVPA treatment, including urobilinogen, formamidopyrimidine nucleoside triphosphate, Cer (d18:1/18:0), pantetheine, and LysoPC (15:0/0:0). These altered metabolites are associated with pathways related to sphingolipid metabolism, carbapenem biosynthesis, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, glycerophospholipid metabolism, and porphyrin metabolism. Furthermore, significant correlations were observed between certain microbial groups and the differential metabolites. These findings provide new insights into the immunomodulatory effects of EVPA on the intestinal microbiota and metabolism, laying the foundation for more extensive utilization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure Identification and Functional Mechanism of Natural Active Components (Volume II))
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19 pages, 2729 KiB  
Article
Effects of Processing Conditions and Simulated Digestion In Vitro on the Antioxidant Activity, Inhibition of Xanthine Oxidase and Bioaccessibility of Epicatechin Gallate
by Miao Zhu, Xiaoyun Fei, Deming Gong and Guowen Zhang
Foods 2023, 12(14), 2807; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12142807 - 24 Jul 2023
Viewed by 825
Abstract
The bioactivity and gastrointestinal stability of epicatechin gallate (ECG) may be affected by processing conditions. Results showed that the antioxidant ability and inhibitory activity on xanthine oxidase (XO) of ECG were higher at low pH values. Appropriate microwave and heating treatments improved the [...] Read more.
The bioactivity and gastrointestinal stability of epicatechin gallate (ECG) may be affected by processing conditions. Results showed that the antioxidant ability and inhibitory activity on xanthine oxidase (XO) of ECG were higher at low pH values. Appropriate microwave and heating treatments improved the antioxidant (the scavenging rate increased from 71.75% to 92.71% and 80.88% under the microwave and heating treatments) and XO inhibitory activity (the inhibitory rate increased from 47.11% to 56.89% and 51.85% at the microwave and heating treatments) of ECG. The treated ECG led to a more compact structure of XO. Moreover, there may be synergistic antioxidant and inhibitory effects between ECG and its degradation products. The bioaccessibility of ECG after simulated digestion was untreated > microwave > heating, and the microwave−treated ECG still had good XO inhibitory activity after digestion. These findings may provide some significant information for the development of functional foods enriched in catechins. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Structure Identification and Functional Mechanism of Natural Active Components (Volume II))
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