Advances in Extraction, Derivatization and Applications of Natural Products: Perspectives for Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

The eminent threat of global warming and other environmental concerns has significantly enhanced the research interest in renewable bioresources. This has led to an increased demand for the development of environmentally compatible and sustainable industries for the production of valuable chemicals and materials. In this regard, the application of green chemical technologies for the transformation of typically low-value and widely available biomass feedstocks, including plant extracts, has gained immense popularity. Plant-based natural products have played an outstanding role in improving human life since time immemorial. Particularly, medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have been used by human beings for various purposes including as precursors for colorants, flavors and fragrances, sweeteners, essential oils, pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals, etc. Therefore, the demand for the development of sustainable technologies for the benign extraction of valuable natural products from MAPs, and the green chemical transformations of these natural products into precursor chemicals and specialty chemicals has increased significantly. Hence, the applications of green chemical technologies such as supercritical fluid extraction, microwave processing, ultrasound-assisted extraction, and other clean extraction methods facilitate the development of genuinely sustainable, low-environmental-impact routes to important chemical products, materials, and bioenergy.

However, the extraction of these ingredients in the form of crude extracts, enriched bioactive fractions, or pure phytomolecules with good yields using sustainable and eco-friendly approaches has always been a challenging and tedious job for the scientist and industrialist working in the realm of natural products chemistry. Essentially, careful handling of plant materials is required to prevent the loss of potential active products during the extraction process. Hence, advancement in the extraction, isolation, and characterization of plant-based natural products is highly desirable for the valorization of natural chemical resources to extricate their full potential. We strongly believe that the future belongs to natural products; therefore, this Special Issue of Sustainability is devoted to original research and review articles covering the latest innovations in the field of natural product chemistry, particularly towards the development of sustainable approaches for the extraction of natural products. Apart from this, research and/or review articles related to the diverse application of natural products in various fields including nanotechnology, pharmacology, green corrosion inhibitors, food science, and so on are also welcome in this Special Issue.

Dr. Merajuddin Khan
Dr. Mujeeb Khan
Dr. Syed Farooq Adil
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Sustainability 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 2400 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.

• natural products
• extractions and isolation
• structural elucidation
• secondary metabolites
• green synthesis of nanomaterials
• green corrosion inhibitors
• essential oils
• bioassay-guided isolation
• bioactive natural products