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Natural Food Constituents and Their Biological Activity, Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 836

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to present this Special Issue of Molecules entitled “Natural Food Constituents and Their Biological Activity, Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability”. Natural bioactive compounds have long been used as important constituents of a healthy diet due to their broad spectrum of health-promoting benefits. As a result, consumer awareness of the important role of high-quality products rich in natural bioactive compounds, e.g., polyphenols, anthocyanins, flavonols, carotenoids, chlorophylls, and peptides, in human nutrition, health, and the prevention of diseases has increased. Therefore, these ingredients are increasingly used in designing novel products. Essential to this is the assessment of the real value of products rich in bioactive compounds, including the effect of digestion in the gastrointestinal tract and their bioaccessibility and bioavailability in the body. Thus, for this Special Issue, I encourage you to submit the latest scientific news, insights, and advances regarding various natural food constituents and their biological activity; the possibilities of analyzing the bioaccessibility and bioavailability during passage through the digestive tract in in vitro models from individual or complex matrices; and interactions between bioactive constituents and digestion enzymes. The information presented will attract considerable interest from a broad group of readers from different disciplines and research fields.

Dr. Sabina Lachowicz-Wiśniewska
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. Molecules 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 2700 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

  • food constituents
  • natural bioactive compounds
  • polyphenols
  • anthocyanins
  • flavonols
  • carotenoids
  • chlorophylls
  • food bioaccessibility
  • food bioavailability

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 1728 KiB  
Article
Proteolytic Activity of Silkworm Thorn (Cudrania tricuspidata) Fruit for Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Food Proteins
by Na-Eun Yang, Da-Hoon Lee, Jun Hwang, Woo-Young Son, Kyeong-Soo Kim, Gwang-Yeon Kim and Hyun-Wook Kim
Molecules 2024, 29(3), 693; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29030693 - 02 Feb 2024
Viewed by 601
Abstract
This study aimed to isolate the proteolytic fraction from the silkworm thorn fruit (Cudrania tricuspidata) through ethanol precipitation at different ratios, and to determine its proteolytic activity and optimal activity conditions. Furthermore, the hydrolysis characteristics and antioxidant activity of soy protein [...] Read more.
This study aimed to isolate the proteolytic fraction from the silkworm thorn fruit (Cudrania tricuspidata) through ethanol precipitation at different ratios, and to determine its proteolytic activity and optimal activity conditions. Furthermore, the hydrolysis characteristics and antioxidant activity of soy protein isolate (SPI) and whey protein concentrate (WPC) hydrolyzates obtained through the enzymatic hydrolysis of freeze-dried silkworm thorn fruit powder (SF) were evaluated. For isolation and partial purification of proteolytic fraction, the water-solubilized fraction of the silkworm thorn fruit was purified through ethanol precipitation at four different ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, and 1:6 (v/v). The protein recovery rate, caseinolytic activity, protein pattern, and optimal activity (pH, temperature, and inhibitors) of fractional ethanol precipitate obtained from the silkworm thorn fruit (ESF) were evaluated. The proteolytic fraction obtained from silkworm thorn fruit exhibited a major protein band around 65–70 kDa and showed the highest proteolytic activity at a 1:4 ratio of ethanol precipitation (p < 0.05). The optimal activity of the measured enzyme fraction was determined to be at pH 9.0 and 50 °C, and the proteolytic activity of ESF was almost inhibited by phenyl methyl sulphonyl fluoride (PMSF, 2 mM), a serine protease inhibitor. Compared to Alcalase and papain, extensively used as commercial enzymes, the silkworm thorn fruit powder was less effective in hydrolyzing SPI and WPC. Nevertheless, SPI and WPC hydrolyzates mediated with silkworm thorn fruit powder showed even better antioxidant activities than those mediated with Alcalase and papain. Thus, our results show the potential application of silkworm thorn fruit as a novel source of plant protease for producing human-grade protein hydrolyzates. Full article
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