Recovery, Characterization, Functionality and Applications of Bioactive Compounds from Food-Plant Products and Their By-Products 2nd Edition

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 April 2024) | Viewed by 3359

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Guest Editor
Grupo de Bioquímica Vegetal, Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Almirante Brown 500, Chacras de Coria, Mendoza M5528AHB, Argentina
Interests: bioactive compounds; grape chemistry; wine; winemaking by-products; phenolic compounds analysis; antioxidant activity; extraction; secondary metabolites; antioxidants; plant extracts; development of methods of analysis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability in the food industry has been frequently linked with strategies that avoid, or at least minimize, the by-products of food production. Although reducing these by-products is highly desirable, the processing of plants and fruits is unavoidably associated with the occurrence of by-products. In the context of consumers becoming more interested every day in natural products without synthetic preservers, with labels showing a full breakdown of resources and contents that provide additional health benefits, the recovery of bioactive compounds from food and plant industry by-products has acquired some interest.

Phytochemicals derived from plants have demonstrated several in vitro and in vivo biological effects. They have also been used as ingredients in functional foods due to their health-promoting effects and their potential to improve the conservation of foodstuffs in a natural way. These effects have been connected to the antioxidant properties of different families of bioactive compounds such as phenolic compounds, carotenoids, tocopherols, and phytosterols, amongst others.

The extraction and characterization steps are directly related to the functionality and applicability of bioactive compounds because, according to the conditions used for recovery, the composition and potential functions of individual components can also change. Understanding the stability and functionality, including the bioaccessibility and bioavailability, of isolated compounds is an essential step in defining the application of a phytochemical extract. Additionally, a compound or compound family may suffer changes during food elaboration that can also modify their bioavailability and, in fact, their biological properties.

Consequently, in this Special Issue, articles (original research papers, perspectives, hypotheses, opinions, reviews, modeling approaches, and methods) focused on bioactive compounds derived from food-plant industry products and their by-products are welcome. The topics include (but are not restricted to): extraction and chemical characterization methods, the identification of new compounds and biological activities of extracts/isolated compounds, the bioavailability of phytochemicals, functional food products’ development and characterization, and stability studies of compounds/extracts under different storage conditions.

Dr. Ariel Fontana
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • phytonutrients
  • chemical composition
  • side streams of food industry
  • biofunctional and technofunctional compounds
  • improving storage stability
  • phenolic compounds
  • extraction, separation and fractionation methods
  • liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry
  • phytochemical composition
  • functional properties assessment
  • health-promoting properties

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1247 KiB  
Article
Copaifera mildbraedii Desf.: Phytochemical Composition of Extracts, Essential Oil, and In Vitro Biological Activities of Bark
by Armel-Frederic Namkona, Rami Rahmani, Xavier Worowounga, Jean-Laurent Syssa-Magalé, Hubert Matondo and Jalloul Bouajila
Plants 2024, 13(6), 877; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13060877 - 19 Mar 2024
Viewed by 506
Abstract
Copaifera mildbraedii Desf. is an evergreen tree with an umbrella-like crown. It is distributed from south-eastern Nigeria eastward to the Central African Republic (CAR). The aim of this study was to assess the chemical composition and biological activities of C. mildbraedii bark, as [...] Read more.
Copaifera mildbraedii Desf. is an evergreen tree with an umbrella-like crown. It is distributed from south-eastern Nigeria eastward to the Central African Republic (CAR). The aim of this study was to assess the chemical composition and biological activities of C. mildbraedii bark, as well as the chemical composition of the essential oil. Ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and methanol (MeOH) extracts showed a high total phenolic content (TPC) (149.9 and 148.8 mg GAE/g dry residue (dr), respectively), which was related to good antioxidant activity (DPPH) with an IC50 of 21.2 and 12.9 µg/mL, respectively. High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) analysis revealed seven phenolic compounds with myricitrin (13.3 mg/g dr) and 2,4-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethyl benzoic acid (30.7 mg/g dr) as major compounds, while gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis enabled detection of 13 volatile compounds (3 before and 10 after derivatization). Thirty compounds were identified in the essential oil, which corresponds to 65% of all identified compounds. Among the latter, E,E-farnesylacetone and γ-gurjunene were considered as major compounds (8.08 and 10.43%, respectively). The EtOAc extract showed a potent potential, simultaneously, against anti-acetylcholinesterase (AChE), anti-15-lipoxygenase (15-LOX), anti-xanthine oxidase (XOD), and cytotoxic (OVCAR) activities, whereas cyclohexane (CYHA) and dichloromethane (DCM) extracts showed a cytotoxic effect with high percentages of inhibition (95.2%). Full article
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15 pages, 1333 KiB  
Article
Phenolic, Nutritional and Sensory Characteristics of Bakery Foods Formulated with Grape Pomace
by Andrea Antoniolli, Lucía Becerra, Patricia Piccoli and Ariel Fontana
Plants 2024, 13(5), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13050590 - 22 Feb 2024
Viewed by 653
Abstract
The potentiality of cv. Malbec grape pomace (GP) as a functional ingredient in the formulation of bakery foods (muffins, biscuits and cereal bars) was studied. The effect of GP addition on the phenolic compounds (PCs) composition, nutritional and sensory properties were evaluated. The [...] Read more.
The potentiality of cv. Malbec grape pomace (GP) as a functional ingredient in the formulation of bakery foods (muffins, biscuits and cereal bars) was studied. The effect of GP addition on the phenolic compounds (PCs) composition, nutritional and sensory properties were evaluated. The addition of GP increased the content of dietary fiber, proteins, ash, total phenolic content (TPC), antiradical capacity (AC), anthocyanins and non-anthocyanin PCs while decreasing the carbohydrates content. The main PCs given by the GP to supplemented foods were quercetin-3-O-glucoside, rutin, caffeic acid, syringic acid and (+)-catechin. For anthocyanins, the acylated derivatives were more stable to heat treatment (baking) in food processing which was evidenced by a higher proportion of these PCs compounds when compared to the same derivatives quantified in GP. In general, when the TPC or individual concentrations of PCs were analyzed in a nutritional or functional context, one portion of the supplemented foods showed levels high enough to satisfy the recommended dose per day of these bioactive compounds. Additionally, the foods were well received by consumers during the sensory evaluation and supplemented biscuits received the highest acceptability. This study demonstrated that GP could be a viable functional ingredient in bakery foods to incorporate components like PCs and dietary fiber into traditional consumers’ diets. Full article
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13 pages, 1098 KiB  
Article
Date (Phoenix dactylifera L. cv. Medjool) Seed Flour, a Potential Ingredient for the Food Industry: Effect of Particle Size on Its Chemical, Technological, and Functional Properties
by Nuria Muñoz-Tebar, Laura Candela-Salvador, José Ángel Pérez-Álvarez, José Manuel Lorenzo, Juana Fernández-López and Manuel Viuda-Martos
Plants 2024, 13(3), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13030335 - 23 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1109
Abstract
The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of particle size on the chemical composition, fatty acid and polyphenol profile, physicochemical and techno-functional properties, and antioxidant capacity of flour obtained from date seeds. The date seed flours obtained had a high [...] Read more.
The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of particle size on the chemical composition, fatty acid and polyphenol profile, physicochemical and techno-functional properties, and antioxidant capacity of flour obtained from date seeds. The date seed flours obtained had a high content of total dietary fiber (67.89–76.67 g/100 g), and the reduction in particle size decreased the moisture and protein contents, while the fat, mineral (Ca, Fe, Zn, and Mg), and fatty acid contents were significantly increased, with oleic acid being the highest. Water activity increased with decreasing particle size, and the finest flour (<210 mm) tended to be yellowish and reddish. The water- and oil-holding capacities decreased in the flours with the smallest particle size compared to the largest sizes. The main polyphenolic compounds in all the samples were catechin, epicatechin, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate. The antioxidant activity significantly improved with reductions in the particle size of the date seed flour, with the ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP values ranging between 8.99 and 20.68, 0.66 and 2.35, and 1.94 and 4.91 mg Trolox equivalent/g of date seed flour. The results of the present study suggest that the flour obtained from date seeds cv. Medjool can be a valuable co-product for the food industry due to its fiber content, essential fatty acids, and bioactive compounds that can help reduce the amount of waste generated, promoting the circular economy in the food chain. Full article
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17 pages, 1423 KiB  
Article
Phytochemical Investigation and Biofilm-Inhibitory Activity of Bachtiari Savory (Satureja bachtiarica Bunge) Aerial Parts
by Marzieh Rahmani Samani, Gilda D’Urso, Filomena Nazzaro, Florinda Fratianni, Milena Masullo and Sonia Piacente
Plants 2024, 13(1), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13010067 - 25 Dec 2023
Viewed by 757
Abstract
Satureja bachtiarica is an endemic plant from the Lamiaceae family, growing in the Zagros mountain range in Iran. Even if S. bachtiarica is reported to possess many biological activities, little is known about its chemical composition. For this reason, in the present research, [...] Read more.
Satureja bachtiarica is an endemic plant from the Lamiaceae family, growing in the Zagros mountain range in Iran. Even if S. bachtiarica is reported to possess many biological activities, little is known about its chemical composition. For this reason, in the present research, a phytochemical investigation of this species was carried out. To have a preliminary metabolite profile of S. bachtiarica, the n-BuOH extract was analyzed using LC-ESI/LTQOrbitrap/MS/MS in negative ion mode, allowing the identification of specialized metabolites belonging to flavonoid, monoterpene, indol, phenylpropanoid, phenolic, lignan, coumarin, biphenyl, and triterpene classes. The LC-MS/MS analysis guided the isolation of compounds, and their structures were characterized using spectroscopic methods including 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments and HRMSn analysis. In this way, a compound never reported before belonging to the biphenyl class was identified. Total flavonoid content of the extract along with the antioxidant activity were assessed. Based on the traditional uses of S. bachtiarica suggesting potential antibacterial properties, an evaluation of the biofilm inhibitory activity of the extract and isolated compounds against mature biofilms of Acinetobacter baumannii, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as their influence on the metabolism of sessile bacterial cells, was conducted. The results evidenced that some compounds including parmentin B, biphenyls, and 1-(1H-indole-3-carboxylate)-β-D-glucopyranoside might inhibit some changes occurring in the bacterial cells, which increases their virulence. In particular, biphenyl derivatives at a concentration of 80 μg/mL were capable of limiting remarkably the mature biofilms of A. baumannii and L. monocytogenes remarkably at a percentage ranging between 52.76% and 75.02%, and they reached an inhibition percentage of 69.28 % against E. coli. Biphenyl derivatives were also effective in exerting an inhibitory action against the mature biofilm of P. aeruginosa (inhibition ranging from 59.38% to 81.08%) and Staphylococcus aureus (inhibition percentage reached 82.94%). Of note, the biphenyl derivatives resulted in being capable of acting on the metabolism of the cells within the biofilm of all five pathogens. Full article
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