Antioxidant Properties of Phytochemicals

Phytochemicals refer to the chemicals generated through the primary and secondary metabolism of plants, distributed in vegetables, fruits, and herbs, which can regulate plant growth and provide protection for plants. Phytochemicals can be divided into sugars, phenylpropanoids, quinones, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, and corresponding glycosides and alkaloid derivatives. Phytochemicals have the effect of scavenging free radicals, regulating metabolism, delaying senescence, improving immunity, and so on, playing an important role in preventing and treating chronic diseases as well as promoting body health. Maintenance of physiological levels of oxidants is essential for biological processes, an excessive oxidant challenge eventually starts signaling events involved in the development of a wide range of chronic diseases. Phytochemicals have gradually become a hotspot in nutrition research due to their beneficial effects and their antioxidative activity. However, there is still a lack of in-depth research on the corresponding relationship between components and functions of bioactive substances in plant-derived food, also, the extraction methods of natural products need to be further optimized. Studies about the interaction relationships of phytochemicals with other nutrients are vital for illustrating molecular mechanisms. Using omics including transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to find new targets of phytochemicals is also the focus of recent research. Therefore, studies about the extraction, analysis, and evaluation of phytochemicals are also necessary, to better understand and realize the benefits.

This research topic aims to collect high-quality advanced research in the field of bioactivity, bioavailability, physicochemical properties, and structural features related to the antioxidant properties of phytochemicals.

We welcome manuscripts that will give new insights into the following subtopics:

• New constituents identified from plant-derived food and their antioxidant activity evaluation, as well as structure-effective relationship;

• Advanced technologies for enhancing the stability of antioxidative activity of natural products from plant-derived food including polyphenols, flavonoids, volatile substances, and so on;

• Delivery systems for improving nutrients bioavailability;

• Beneficial effects of phytochemicals for human health related to oxidative stress and potential molecular mechanisms involved;

• Interactions between phytochemicals and other nutrients;

• Omics approaches to explore new mechanisms of phytochemicals for human nutritional health.