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Agronomy
Special Issues
Phytochemicals - Occurrence, Metabolism and Biological Importance
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Phytochemicals - Occurrence, Metabolism and Biological Importance

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Biosystem and Biological Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2022) | Viewed by 10594

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mirosława Chwil

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 15 Akademicka Street, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Interests: biology; pollen morphology; heavy metal; bioactive compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Renata Matraszek-Gawron

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 15 Akademicka Street, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
Interests: plant physiology; mineral nutrition; abiotic stress tolerance; trace metals; biological active compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue entitled “Phytochemicals - Occurrence, Metabolism, and Biological Importance” will cover the following topics: (i) the localization of active compounds in exo- and endogenous secretory structures, (ii) biologically active substances in herbal raw materials, and (iii) the role of phytochemicals in the metabolic processes of the organism and their biological activity. The localization of secretory structures accumulating biocompounds is useful for the identification of herbal raw material. Some bioactive compounds isolated from plants give rise to natural or synthetic drugs. They have been given the name of natural pharmaceuticals. They often serve as a basic safe natural ingredient in pharmaceutical and cosmetic formulations. Single-component or composite preparations selected suitably to treat a specific health problem have a health-enhancing effect on humans and animals. They are used in the prophylaxis and phytotherapy of various diseases, such as neoplastic, inflammatory, and infectious diseases. Currently, in the presence of various threats linked to civilization, phytocompounds are investigated in many biochemical, clinical, and epidemiological studies. They are also increasingly being implemented in many clinical strategies as part of effective therapies.

Dr. Mirosława Chwil
Dr. Renata Matraszek-Gawron
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. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • secretory structure
  • medicinal plants
  • biologically active compounds
  • metabolism
  • biological activity
  • prophylaxis
  • phytotherapy

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

44 pages, 12661 KiB  
Article
Structure of Anther Epidermis and Endothecium, Production of Pollen, and Content of Selected Nutrients in Pollen Grains from Six Rubus idaeus L. Cultivars
by Mikołaj Kostryco and Mirosława Chwil
Agronomy 2021, 11(9), 1723; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11091723 - 28 Aug 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4662
Abstract
Poland is the largest European Union producer of Rubus idaeus. This species provides insects with nectar and pollen from June to September. The rationale behind the present research is the increasing commercial production and the use of food attractants for pollinators increasing [...] Read more.
Poland is the largest European Union producer of Rubus idaeus. This species provides insects with nectar and pollen from June to September. The rationale behind the present research is the increasing commercial production and the use of food attractants for pollinators increasing fruit yields. The intensive search for phytochemicals applicable in industry and phytotherapy together with the unavailability of data on anther epidermis and endothecium structure justify undertaking these investigations. The pollen mass, the content of elements, protein, and fat, as well as the composition of amino acids and fatty acids in the pollen of six R. idaeus cultivars were compared. In terms of pollen production, the cultivars ranked as follows: ‘Pokusa’ < ‘Polana’ < ‘Glen Ample’ < ‘Polka’ < ‘Radziejowa’ < ‘Laszka’. The protein content (26–31%) in the pollen indicates its good quality and high attractiveness. Exogenous amino acids, including those with dietary importance, constituted a substantial proportion (33–39%). The content of MUFAs and PUFAs was 32–47% and 3.7–9.1%, respectively. The presence of elements that determine the nutritional value and proper development of pollen was detected in the mineral composition of the exine. The data on the epidermis and endothecium structure provide new information about the micromorphology, anatomy, ultrastructure of and generative organs and auxiliary criteria in the taxonomy of related species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytochemicals - Occurrence, Metabolism and Biological Importance)
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14 pages, 1081 KiB  
Article
Protective Effects of Fruit Wines against Hydrogen Peroxide—Induced Oxidative Stress in Rat Synaptosomes
by Uroš Čakar, Mirjana Čolović, Danijela Milenković, Branislava Medić, Danijela Krstić, Aleksandar Petrović and Brižita Đorđević
Agronomy 2021, 11(7), 1414; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11071414 - 15 Jul 2021
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 2398
Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate, in vitro, the antioxidative potential of fruit wines produced from berry fruits (i.e., black chokeberry, blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry), cherry, and apple by different technological processes. For this purpose, the activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), [...] Read more.
This study aimed to evaluate, in vitro, the antioxidative potential of fruit wines produced from berry fruits (i.e., black chokeberry, blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry), cherry, and apple by different technological processes. For this purpose, the activities of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and superoxide dismutase (SOD)) and malondialdehyde (MDA) content as a marker of membrane damage were determined in wine-treated synaptosomes with hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress. All studied wines induced increased antioxidant enzyme activities and decreased MDA levels compared to hydrogen peroxide-treated synaptosomes (i.e., control). The highest SOD activity was observed in synaptosomes treated with blackberry wine (6.81 U/mg), whereas blueberry wine induced the highest catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities (0.058 U/mg and 0.017 U/mg, respectively). Black chokeberry proved to be the best in lipid peroxidation protection with the lowest MDA value (1.42 nmol/mg). Finally, principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis additionally highlighted a higher antioxidant capacity of wines produced from dark-skinned fruits (i.e., blackberry, black chokeberry, and blueberry). The results suggest protective effects of the fruit wines against oxidative damage, and, accordingly, their promising application as functional food. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytochemicals - Occurrence, Metabolism and Biological Importance)
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12 pages, 1365 KiB  
Article
Optimization by Means of Chemometric Tools of an Ultrasound-Assisted Method for the Extraction of Betacyanins from Red Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus)
by Ceferino Carrera, Jean Pastol, Widiastuti Setyaningsih, Ana Ruiz-Rodríguez, Marta Ferreiro-González, Gerardo Fernández Barbero and Miguel Palma
Agronomy 2021, 11(6), 1053; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11061053 - 24 May 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2680
Abstract
Betacyanins have been reported to provide prominent health-promoting effects, in addition to contributing to the exotic color and pleasant palate of red dragon fruit that has been attracting universal interest for over a decade. An accurate determination of betacyanins in dragon fruit is [...] Read more.
Betacyanins have been reported to provide prominent health-promoting effects, in addition to contributing to the exotic color and pleasant palate of red dragon fruit that has been attracting universal interest for over a decade. An accurate determination of betacyanins in dragon fruit is important if we are to benefit from the nutraceutical features of these compounds. Seven betacyanin pigments have been identified and extracted by means of ultrasound-assisted techniques from red dragon fruit. Chemometric tools such as Box–Behnken Design (BBD) in conjunction with response surface methodology (RSM) have been successfully used to evaluate and optimize the relevant extraction variables i.e., temperature (A: 10, 35, 60 °C), solvent composition (B: 20, 50, 80% methanol in water), sample to solvent ratio (C: 0.1:10, 0.2:10, 0.3:10 g/mL), power (D: 20, 45, 70%), and cycle (E: 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 s−1). The results obtained from the analysis of variance (ANOVA) suggest that the solvent composition (p 0.0063), sample to solvent ratio (p 0.0126), and cycle (p 0.0302) are the most influential variables in betacyanin extraction. The optimal variable settings for ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) were a 54.6 °C extraction temperature, 0.3 s−1 cycle, 20% ultrasound power, 21.4% methanol in water solvent composition, 0.2:10 sample to solvent ratio, and a 5 min extraction time. The validation of the method for repeatability and intermediate precision provided excellent results at 1.56% and 2.94% respectively. Furthermore, the novel UAE method was successfully used for the determination of betacyanins content in red dragon fruit from different geographic origins. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytochemicals - Occurrence, Metabolism and Biological Importance)
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