Plant Antioxidants and Health, 1st ed. 2022 Reference Series in Phytochemistry Series

This book provides a comprehensive reference guide to plant-derived antioxidants, their beneficial effects, mechanisms of action, and role in disease prevention and improving general health (anti-ageing effect).

The content is divided into three main parts, the first of which covers various antioxidants (such as polyphenols, carotenoids, tocopherols, tocotrienols, glutathione, ascorbic acid), their origins, plant biochemistry and industrial utilization. In turn, the book?s second, main part focuses on antioxidants? beneficial health effects, explains biochemical fundamentals such as the free radical theory and oxidative stress, and discusses antioxidants? role in e.g. cancer, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, degenerative diseases and ageing. The third part reviews general laboratory methods for antioxidant screening, preservation and determination.  

Part I: Antioxidant Resources.- Natural Food Antioxidants.- Polyphenols in Herbal Extracts.- Grape Polyphenolics.- Betalains as Antioxidants.- Selected Species of Medicinal/Arboreal Mushrooms as a Source of Substances with Antioxidant Properties.- Antioxidant and Pro-oxidant Activities of Carotenoids.- Selenium: Prospects of Functional Food Production with High Antioxidant Activity.- Antioxidant Activity and Fresh Goat Cheese.- Extraction of Natural Plant Polysaccharides and Their In Vitro Antioxidant Activities.- Poisonous Mushroom (Nonedible) as an Antioxidant Source.- Antioxidant and Photoprotective Properties of Neotropical Bamboo Species.- Cultures of Medicinal Plants In Vitro as a Potential Rich Source of Antioxidants.- Part II: Utilization of Antioxidants.- Applications of Antioxidants: A Review.- Plant Antioxidants from Agricultural Waste: Synergistic Potential with Other Biological Properties and Possible Applications.- Natural Antioxidants Used in Meat Products.- Antioxidants in Health and Disease with Their Capability to Defend Pathogens that Attack Apple Species of Kashmir.- Part III. Antioxidants and Health.- The Role of Natural Antioxidants in Reducing Oxidative Stress in Cancer.- The Cytoprotective Activity of Nrf2 is Regulated by Phytochemicals (Sulfuraphane, Curcumin, and Silymarin).- Current Evidence for Disease Prevention and Treatment by Protocatechuic Acid (PCA) and Its Precursor Protocatechuic Aldehyde (PCAL) in Animals and Humans.- Reduction of Oxidative Stress in Human Body via Inhibitory Effect of Plant Phenolics on Circulating Neutrophils; Results of In Vitro and In Vivo Studies.- Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Different Dietary Antioxidants.- The Beneficial Role of Natural Antioxidantsin Alleviating Neuroinflammatory Disorders Including Neurodegeneration.- Beneficial and Detrimental Effects of Antioxidants in Allergic Contact Dermatitis.- Vitamin E – The Wonderful ‘One-for-All’ Gift of Health.- Part IV: Screening, Preservation and Determination Methods for Antioxidants.- Extraction and Assessment Methods as Well as Resources of Natural Antioxidants in Foods and Herbs.- Antioxidant Activity and Capacity Measurement.- Recovery and Purification of Antioxidant Compounds from Plant Origin Agro-Industrial By-products.- Microencapsulation Methods for Food Antioxidants.- Plant Antioxidants and Antimicrobials in Edible and Non-edible Active Packaging Films.

Professor Halina Maria Ekiert is Head of Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Botany in the Pharmaceutical Faculty, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, Kraków (Poland), since 2015. Her scientific career was associated first with the Pharmaceutical Faculty at Medical Academy in Kraków (Poland) and after reorganization (since 1993) with the Pharmaceutical Faculty at Medical College of Jagiellonian University. In the years 1999–2014, she was acting Head of Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Botany. The areas of her scientific interests are associated mainly with pharmaceutical sciences with strong background in plant biotechnology, phytochemistry, analysis of natural products, and biological activity of plant secondary metabolites. Her biotechnological interests include medicinal and/or cosmetic plant in vitro cultures, endogenic production of bioactive plant secondary metabolites, and biotransformations of exogenic substrates in in vitro cultures. Coumarins, phenolic acids, flavonoids, schisandra lignans, phenylpropanoid glycosides, iridoids, catechins, glucosinolates, and arbutin are the special objects of her interest. Throughout her career, Prof. Ekiert received postdoctoral internships at German universities (Bonn – 1993, Würzburg – 1998, and Marburg am Lahn – 2000, two trainings). The trainings in Bonn and in Marburg were supported by DAAD – German Academic Exchange Service. Her scientific achievements include more than 130 published articles with total number of citation of approximately 1480 and H-index of 24 (according to Web of Science), a few book chapters (published by Springer, Science Publisher, and Studium Press), and the role of co-editor and/or editor at Springer xi Nature and also guest-editor with the MDPI journal – Molecules. Prof. Ekiert has collaborated with Würzburg University, and she currently collaborates with Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany), the University of Messina (Sicily, Italy), and the University of