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Foods
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Potential Use of Edible and Medicinal Plants and Industrial Applications
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Potential Use of Edible and Medicinal Plants and Industrial Applications

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 9854

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Luís Silva

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
SPRINT Sport Physical Activity and Health Research & Innovation Center, Instituto Politécnico da Guarda, 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal
Interests: bioactive compounds; phytochemicals; natural products as health promoters; chronic diseases; circular economy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Gilberto Alves

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CICS-UBI—Health Sciences Research Centre, University of Beira Interior, Av. Infante D. Henrique, 6200-506 Covilhã, Portugal
Interests: pharmacokinetics; ADME; bioavailability; drug evaluation; drug delivery; systemic drug exposure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants have been used for millennia by all populations globally. They also form the foundation of many modern medicines, nutraceuticals, food supplements and pharmaceutical products. Plants are a rich source of bioactive compounds, such as phenolic compounds, carotenes, isothiocyanates, volatiles, among others. They have potential health-promoting effects beyond providing basic nutrition needs in humans, including their role in reducing inflammation and their potential preventive effects on various chronic diseases, such as, hyperglycemia, carcinoma and neurodegenerative diseases. Moreover, the cultivation of some plants in large scale is gaining interest as feedstock for novel bio-based products (e.g., conversion into biopolymers or as a source of cellulose for nanometric technological applications), production of biomass for energy, oil for human consumption, biodiesel, animal feed, paper pulp, pharmacologically active compounds. World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted that more than half of world's population (80%) relay on application of plants for various health care measures. Notably, over 50% of drugs used globally in modern pharmaceuticals are derived from natural products. The importance of plants as potential sources of drugs is evident from the global commercialization of well-known effective drugs derived from various plant species. There has been increased recent interest in their therapeutic properties.

Dr. Luís Manuel Lopes Rodrigues da Silva
Prof. Dr. Gilberto Alves
Guest Editors

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

  • edible plant
  • medicinal plant
  • industrial applications
  • health promotors
  • biological potential
  • bioactive compounds.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 7168 KiB  
Article
Chemosensitization Effect of Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) Pulp Oil via Autophagy and Senescence in NSCLC Cells
by Uyanga Batbold and Jun-Jen Liu
Foods 2022, 11(10), 1517; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11101517 - 23 May 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2180
Abstract
The research has demonstrated a synergistic anticancer effect of Seabuckthorn pulp oil (SBO) and the standard chemotherapy regimen Docetaxel (DTX) against two non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines: A549 and H23. The synergizing effect of an SBO and DTX combination was detected [...] Read more.
The research has demonstrated a synergistic anticancer effect of Seabuckthorn pulp oil (SBO) and the standard chemotherapy regimen Docetaxel (DTX) against two non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines: A549 and H23. The synergizing effect of an SBO and DTX combination was detected utilizing SRB assay and combination index (CI) approaches. Flow cytometry was carried out using fluorescent probes to measure cell cycle analysis by DNA content and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Further, we demonstrated that the synergistic anticancer activity of SBO merged with DTX was achieved by caspase-independent autophagy and senescence induction. These changes were concomitant with increased generation of ROS production and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) protein expression, G1-phase arrest, and enhanced senescence-associated β-galactosidase staining activity. Our data also demonstrated that SBO or DTX treatment groups solely upregulated the phosphorylation of ERK, which coincided with the induction of autophagy vacuoles and was functionally associated with ROS activation. Moreover, endogenous LC3 puncta staining was performed and monitored by confocal microscopy. Overall, these results suggest new mechanisms for the antitumor activity of SBO co-treated with DTX through triggering autophagic cell death and senescence against cancer cells as a result of sustained ERK phosphorylation and intracellular ROS production in NSCLC. In addition, we also highlight SBO as an alternative therapeutic option or adjunct therapeutic strategy in combination with chemotherapeutic agents in lung cancer therapy management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Potential Use of Edible and Medicinal Plants and Industrial Applications)
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Review

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74 pages, 4030 KiB  
Review
Thymus hirtus Willd. ssp. algeriensis Boiss. and Reut: A Comprehensive Review on Phytochemistry, Bioactivities, and Health-Enhancing Effects
by Radhia Aitfella Lahlou, Nsevolo Samba, Pedro Soeiro, Gilberto Alves, Ana Carolina Gonçalves, Luís R. Silva, Samuel Silvestre, Jesus Rodilla and Maria Isabel Ismael
Foods 2022, 11(20), 3195; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11203195 - 13 Oct 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2862
Abstract
Members of the Lamiaceae family are considered chief sources of bioactive therapeutic agents. They are important ornamental, medicinal, and aromatic plants, many of which are used in traditional and modern medicine and in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. In North Africa, on [...] Read more.
Members of the Lamiaceae family are considered chief sources of bioactive therapeutic agents. They are important ornamental, medicinal, and aromatic plants, many of which are used in traditional and modern medicine and in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. In North Africa, on the Mediterranean side, there is the following particularly interesting Lamiaceous species: Thymus hirtus Willd. sp. Algeriensis Boiss. Et Reut. The populations of this endemic plant are distributed from the subhumid to the lower arid zone and are mainly employed as ethnomedicinal remedies in the following Maghreb countries: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. In fact, they have been applied as antimicrobial agents, antispasmodics, astringents, expectorants, and preservatives for several food products. The species is commonly consumed as a tea or infusion and is used against hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, respiratory ailments, heart disease, and food poisoning. These medicinal uses are related to constituents with many biological characteristics, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, anti-ulcer, anti-diabetic, insecticidal, and anti-inflammatory activities. This review aims to present an overview of the botanical characteristics and geographical distribution of Thymus algeriensis Boiss. Et Reut and its traditional uses. This manuscript also examines the phytochemical profile and its correlation with biological activities revealed by in vitro and in vivo studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Potential Use of Edible and Medicinal Plants and Industrial Applications)
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37 pages, 572 KiB  
Review
Bioactive Compounds from Cardoon as Health Promoters in Metabolic Disorders
by Luís R. Silva, Telma A. Jacinto and Paula Coutinho
Foods 2022, 11(3), 336; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11030336 - 25 Jan 2022
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3843
Abstract
Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) is a Mediterranean plant and member of the Asteraceae family that includes three botanical taxa, the wild perennial cardoon (C. cardunculus L. var. sylvestris (Lamk) Fiori), globe artichoke (C. cardunculus L. var. scolymus L. Fiori [...] Read more.
Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L.) is a Mediterranean plant and member of the Asteraceae family that includes three botanical taxa, the wild perennial cardoon (C. cardunculus L. var. sylvestris (Lamk) Fiori), globe artichoke (C. cardunculus L. var. scolymus L. Fiori), and domesticated cardoon (C. cardunculus L. var. altilis DC.). Cardoon has been widely used in the Mediterranean diet and folk medicine since ancient times. Today, cardoon is recognized as a plant with great industrial potential and is considered as a functional food, with important nutritional value, being an interesting source of bioactive compounds, such as phenolics, minerals, inulin, fiber, and sesquiterpene lactones. These bioactive compounds have been vastly described in the literature, exhibiting a wide range of beneficial effects, such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, lipid-lowering, cytotoxic, antidiabetic, antihemorrhoidal, cardiotonic, and choleretic activity. In this review, an overview of the cardoon nutritional and phytochemical composition, as well as its biological potential, is provided, highlighting the main therapeutic effects of the different parts of the cardoon plant on metabolic disorders, specifically associated with hepatoprotective, hypolipidemic, and antidiabetic activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Potential Use of Edible and Medicinal Plants and Industrial Applications)
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