Given the outstanding impact of ' Extracts From Plants and Other Natural Sources: Application, Characterization, Optimization, and Their Use ’, Frontiers in Nutrition is pleased to launch Volume II of this successful Research Topic.

In the last decades, natural compounds attract much of the attention of the scientific community because of the wide range of biological activity. The possibility of changing the synthetic compounds for natural ones in food products was, and still is, one of the main goals of many studies in this field. For this purpose, different extraction techniques have been developed followed by the development of many analytical instruments and methods for the detection, identification, and quantification of isolated natural compounds. Isolation of the natural compounds became a challenging problem of great importance since the natural matrix is a highly complex mixture of different compounds.

Besides this, natural compounds, extracts, and their sources are the subject of many different studies for their possible application in the food industry and agronomy. Natural compounds are used more frequently as a substitution for synthetic antioxidants and other compounds. Moreover, application in the field of phytotherapy is also very attractive and widely explored these days.

The aim of this Research Topic is to address all problems and challenges in the isolation, analysis, and application of natural sources and their extracts in the formulation of functional products and application in phytotherapy. Practical application of the obtained extract is the most important aspect of this topic, where both natural materials and their extract may be used for the formulation of functional food and many other products as well as in phytotherapy. Isolation of clean natural compounds, investigation of the synergy, and prediction of the possible site of activity using available software is also a very important factor for the prediction of the possible application of these compounds and their extracts.

This Research Topic is focusing on studies regarding the isolation of natural compounds from their natural sources and provides an insight into the possibilities in the practical application of both plants and other natural sources, and their extracts for the formulation of functional food and other functional products, and in phytotherapy.

We welcome Original Research or Review Articles including but not limited to the following themes:

• Application of conventional and nonconventional extraction techniques for isolation of the natural compounds from natural sources (plants, microalgae, fungi, yeasts, and others)

• Optimization of the extraction processes using different mathematical tools

• Using mathematical tools and software for the prediction of the activity of natural compounds and their possible interaction with enzymes

• Analytical Characterization and structural identification of novel bioactive components

• Application of the different natural sources and their extracts for the formulation of functional food and other functional products

• Possible application of extracts and natural compounds in phytotherapy.

Submissions to the Ethnopharmacology section of Frontiers in Pharmacology need to comply with the best practice guidelines of the leading journals for pharmacological studies on plant extract / natural products including the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology and follow the standards established in the ConPhyMP statement Front. Pharmacol. 13:953205. A detailed description of the material studied, its extraction and processing is essential and manuscripts which lack such a description will be desk-rejected. You can freely download the full version here. Please self-assess your MS using the ConPhyMP tool: https://ga-online.org/best-practice/

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

Extracts From Plants and Other Natural Sources: Application, Characterization, Optimization, and Their Use - Volume II