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Phenolic Compounds in Herbs: Characterization, Antioxidant Properties and Health Benefits

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutraceuticals, Functional Foods, and Novel Foods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2021) | Viewed by 20229

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Paweł Kafarski

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Guest Editor

Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Wroclaw, Poland
Interests: natural products of honey; herbs and mushrooms; antioxidants; medicinal chemistry; food alduteration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Izabela Jasicka-Misiak

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Chemistry, Opole University, Oleska 48, 45-052 Opole, Poland
Interests: chromatography; mass spectrometry; sample preparation; extraction; natural product chemistry; food chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Currently, herbs and spices are used to enhance or improve the organoleptic properties of food and to shape the quality of food products and cosmetics, while lower attention is given to their potential health-promoting properties. Various phenolic compounds are known to exhibit chemopreventive properties (acting as antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, antimutagenic, or anti-inflammatory molecules). Spices and herbs are great sources of antioxidants for food and beverage preservation. In addition, consumers are increasingly favouring food products that contain natural ingredients because of concerns over adverse health effects of synthetic raw materials, particularly some synthetic antioxidants. Since herbs also exhibit variable medicinal properties, it is not surprising that in developing countries, most of the population depends upon the use of food rich in phenolics for health prevention and of herbal medicines for primary health care. Therefore, the fortification of foods with herb and spice components could help to provide nutritional and therapeutical value to functional products.

To achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the health benefits of phenolic compounds present in herbs and to facilitate their use for the improvement of food, the journal Foods now invites valuable contributions that report original observations as well as reviews on that topic.

Prof. Paweł Kafarski
Prof. Dr. Izabela Jasicka-Misiak
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

Phenolic profiles (fingerprints) of plant extracts, plant foods, and food additives
Metabolomics of herb phenolic compounds
Development of techniques and procedures to identify and quantify phenolics in plant and food materials
Antioxidant activity of individual phenolic compounds
The use of phenolics for the design and production of pro-healthy food
Steering with the level of individual phenolics content in herbs and foods
Biotransformation as a tool for improving the health benefits of phenolics
Molecular mechanisms of the medicinal action of phenolic compounds
Phenolic compounds databases

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 924 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Phytochemical and Pharmacological Evaluation of the Residue By-Product Developed from the Ocimum americanum (Lamiaceae) Postdistillation Waste

by Izabela Jasicka-Misiak, Mariia Shanaida, Nataliia Hudz and Piotr Paweł Wieczorek

Foods 2021, 10(12), 3063; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10123063 - 09 Dec 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2480

Abstract

The yield of essential oils in plants is not high and postdistillation wastes rich in phenolic compounds could be used to enhance the profitability of essential oil-bearing plants. The aim of the study was to evaluate polyphenols in a dry extract obtained from the postdistillation waste of the American basil (Ocimum americanum L.) herb, and to conduct the screening of its pharmacological activities. Rosmarinic acid, caffeic acid and rutin were identified in the extract using high-performance thin-layer chromatography. The high-performance liquid chromatography analysis found the presence of a plethora of polyphenols in the extract. Rosmarinic acid, luteolin-7-O-glucoside and rutin were as the main compounds. The total phenolic content in the extract was 106.31 mg GAE/g and free radical scavenging activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl evaluated as IC₅₀ was 0.298 mg/mL. The tested extract dose-dependently decreased the paw edema in rats, suggesting its potent anti-inflammatory property. The acute toxicity study indicates its safety. Thus, the O. americanum hydrodistilled residue by-product is the promising source of biologically active compounds with significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phenolic Compounds in Herbs: Characterization, Antioxidant Properties and Health Benefits)

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19 pages, 643 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Extraction Techniques for Obtaining Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Compounds from the Lamiaceae and Asteraceae Species

by Marisol Villalva, Susana Santoyo, Lilia Salas-Pérez, María de las Nieves Siles-Sánchez, Mónica Rodríguez García-Risco, Tiziana Fornari, Guillermo Reglero and Laura Jaime

Foods 2021, 10(9), 2067; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10092067 - 01 Sep 2021

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2581

Abstract

Melissa officinalis L. and Origanum majorana L., within Lamiaceae family, and Calendula officinalis L. and Achillea millefolium L., within the Asteraceae, have been considered a good source of bioactive ingredients with health benefits. In this study, the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) using pure CO₂, and the ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) were proposed as green techniques to obtain plant-based extracts with potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Higher values of total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were achieved in UAE ethanol:water (50:50, v/v) extracts. Meanwhile, UAE pure ethanol extracts showed greater anti-inflammatory activity. RP-HPLC-PAD-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS analysis showed a vast number of phenolic compounds in the extracts, including unreported ones. O. majorana ethanol:water extract presented the highest content of phenolics and antioxidant activity; among its composition, both rosmarinic acid and luteolin glucoside derivatives were abundant. The pure ethanol extract of A. millefolium resulted in an important content of caffeoylquinic acid derivatives, luteolin-7-O-glucoside and flavonoid aglycones, which could be related to the remarkable inhibition of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 cytokines. Besides, borneol and camphor, found in the volatile fraction of A. millefolium, could contributed to this latter activity. Thus, this study points out that O. majorana and A. millefolium are considered a promising source of bioactive ingredients with potential use in health promotion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phenolic Compounds in Herbs: Characterization, Antioxidant Properties and Health Benefits)

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13 pages, 899 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Influence of Locality on Phenolic Profile and Antioxidant Capacity of Bud Extracts

by Zuzana Kovalikova, Jan Lnenicka and Rudolf Andrys

Foods 2021, 10(7), 1608; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10071608 - 12 Jul 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1907

Abstract

Gemmotherapy represents the most recent therapeutic technique that uses the properties of extracts from fresh meristematic plant tissues, mainly buds and sprouts, by macerating them in ethanol and glycerol. The harvesting time and the location can significantly affect the chemical composition of the buds. Therefore, this work aimed to point out the possible variability in the phenolic content and the antioxidant potential of extracts prepared from commonly grown trees in the Czech Republic. Extracts from buds collected during autumn and spring in three different localities were analysed using UHPLC-MS (ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography) for the phenols profile. Five tests assays were used for the evaluation of the extract antioxidant potential. The sampling time positively affected the content of total phenols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids. The increased levels of total phenols and flavonoids in localities with high and medium pollution may be the result of the higher levels of NO and SO_2, the main air pollutants. However, surprisingly, the content of phenolic acid showed the highest values in the area with the lowest pollution. The results of antioxidant tests did not completely correlate with the levels of phenolic metabolites, which may be due to the involvement of other active molecules (e.g., ascorbate, tocopherol, or proline) in the antioxidant machinery. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phenolic Compounds in Herbs: Characterization, Antioxidant Properties and Health Benefits)

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22 pages, 1916 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Valeriana rigida Ruiz & Pav. Root Extract: A New Source of Caffeoylquinic Acids with Antioxidant and Aldose Reductase Inhibitory Activities

by Guanglei Zuo, Hyun-Yong Kim, Yanymee N. Guillen Quispe, Zhiqiang Wang, Kang-Hyuk Kim, Paul H. Gonzales Arce and Soon-Sung Lim

Foods 2021, 10(5), 1079; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10051079 - 13 May 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2852

Abstract

Valeriana rigida Ruiz & Pav. (V. rigida) has long been used as a herbal medicine in Peru; however, its phytochemicals and pharmacology need to be scientifically explored. In this study, we combined the offline 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH)-/ultrafiltration-high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC)/pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography (pH-zone-refining CCC) to screen and separate the antioxidants and aldose reductase (AR) inhibitors from the 70% MeOH extract of V. rigida, which exhibited remarkable antioxidant and AR inhibitory activities. Seven compounds were initially screened as target compounds exhibiting dual antioxidant and AR inhibitory activities using DPPH-/ultrafiltration-HPLC, which guided the subsequent pH-zone-refining CCC and HSCCC separations of these target compounds, namely 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, 3,4-O-di-caffeoylquinic acid, 3,5-O-di-caffeoylquinic acid, 4,5-O-di-caffeoylquinic acid, and 3,4,5-O-tri-caffeoylquinic acid. These compounds are identified for the first time in V. rigida and exhibited remarkable antioxidant and AR inhibitory activities. The results demonstrate that the method established in this study can be used to efficiently screen and separate the antioxidants and AR inhibitors from natural products and, particularly, the root extract of V. rigida is a new source of caffeoylquinic acids with antioxidant and AR inhibitory activities, and it can be used as a potential functional food ingredient for diabetes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phenolic Compounds in Herbs: Characterization, Antioxidant Properties and Health Benefits)

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Review

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28 pages, 391 KiB

Open AccessReview

Antiviral Properties of Polyphenols from Plants

by Katarzyna Chojnacka, Dawid Skrzypczak, Grzegorz Izydorczyk, Katarzyna Mikula, Daniel Szopa and Anna Witek-Krowiak

Foods 2021, 10(10), 2277; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10102277 - 26 Sep 2021

Cited by 37 | Viewed by 5505

Abstract

Polyphenols are active substances against various types of viral infections. Researchers have characterized methods of how to isolate polyphenols without losing their potential to formulate pharmaceutical products. Researchers have also described mechanisms against common viral infections (i.e., influenza, herpes, hepatitis, rotavirus, coronavirus). Particular compounds have been discussed together with the plants in the biomass in which they occur. Quercetin, gallic acid and epigallocatechin are exemplary compounds that inhibit the growth cycle of viruses. Special attention has been paid to identify plants and polyphenols that can be efficient against coronavirus infections. It has been proven that polyphenols present in the diet and in pharmaceuticals protect us from viral infections and, in case of infection, support the healing process by various mechanisms, i.e., they block the entry into the host cells, inhibit the multiplication of the virus, seal blood vessels and protect against superinfection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phenolic Compounds in Herbs: Characterization, Antioxidant Properties and Health Benefits)

13 pages, 988 KiB

Open AccessReview

Biological Properties, Health Benefits and Enzymatic Modifications of Dietary Methoxylated Derivatives of Cinnamic Acid

by Magdalena Rychlicka, Agata Rot and Anna Gliszczyńska

Foods 2021, 10(6), 1417; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10061417 - 18 Jun 2021

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3436

Abstract

Methoxylated derivatives of cinnamic acid play an important role in the formation of the pro-health potential of food products. Numerous reports present them as molecules with strong antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anticancer as well as hepato-, cardio-, and neuroprotective activities. In the last three decades, many research groups have tried to extend the practical application of these molecules as therapeutic and antioxidant agents extensively studying the methods of their lipophilization as the solution of problems of their low oral bioavailability and rapid metabolism. This article summarizes the latest data of natural sources of occurrence, biological potential and bioavailability of methoxy derivatives of cinnamic acids. Metabolism and pharmacokinetics of this group of dietary compounds are also extensively discussed as well as reviewing the methods of their chemical and enzymatic lipophilization in the aspect of their use in food and pharmaceutical industries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phenolic Compounds in Herbs: Characterization, Antioxidant Properties and Health Benefits)

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