The use of composite materials is ubiquitous in every field of human activities, including in the agricultural, industrial, environmental, biomedical and transport sectors. After a pandemic with the simultaneous unfolding of an energy and climatic crisis, we now realize how necessary it is to carry out studies on composite materials based on polymers to positively affect our current society and, in particular, future generations.To this aim, in the present selection of scientific articles we have given visibility to worthy contributions on a wide variety of topics, highlighting how essential plastic-based composite materials and their derivatives are in our daily lives. The articles in this Special Issue were wide-ranging and devoted to the properties and characterization of composites for innovative and strategic applications and, more generally, for the development of the chemical–physical properties of these materials.

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Polymers are the largest and most versatile class of biomaterials, being extensively applied for therapeutic applications. From natural to synthetic polymers, the possibilities to design and modify their physical-chemical properties make these systems of great interest in a wide range of biomedical applications as diverse as drug delivery systems, organ-on-a-chip, diagnostics, tissue engineering, and so on.In recent years, advances in the synthesis and modification of polymers and characterization techniques have allowed the design of novel biomaterials as well as the study of their biological behavior in vitro and in vivo.The purpose of this Special Issue is to highlight recent achievements in the synthesis and modification of polymers for biomedical applications for final applications in the field of biomedicine.

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This volume collects the recent progress in cellulose-based hydrogels, including gels prepared from natural cellulose and its derivatives, cellulose graft co-polymers, and composite gels based on cellulose, covering key aspects of cellulose-based hydrogels, including design, characterization, as well as application-focused research.

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This Special Issue is result of a call for papers of the Section Industrial Crystallization of MDPI’s scientific journal Crystals. It addresses scientists and engineers active in research and process & product development in life-science industries (e.g. pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals and biotechnology products) and bulk chemical applications (e.g. desalination) as well. The contributions comprise several fundamental and application-oriented facets of crystallization providing an overview of industrially relevant subjects in the field. Main issues cover phase equilibria and solid-state behavior of crystalline compounds, crystal shape and size and related measurement techniques. Melt and solution crystallization are considered specifically addressing contemporary aspects of continuous crystallization and process intensification.

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This reprint, "Advances in Sustainable Polymeric Materials II”, contains 16 studies and further cutting-edge research that illustrate how these challenges can be addressed through the use of advanced materials, sustainable polymers, and green technologies. It highlights the importance of efficient catalysts, bio-based materials, and green chemical processes and demonstrates how cellulose derivatives and other natural materials can be integrated into polymer compositions. The reprint also explores the use of electrospun membranes and reactive eutectic solvents for greener methods of wastewater treatment and material synthesis, and the potential of agri-food waste and biomaterials for fully bio-based polymer coatings and materials. It also discusses the stabilization and preservation of natural extracts and active ingredients, showcasing the importance of encapsulation and nanotechnology in preserving these substances' beneficial properties. Each chapter provides detailed insight into how natural resources can be harnessed to create high-performance products while maintaining a strong commitment to environmental protection. These innovations not only improve the performance of materials but also contribute to reducing the ecological footprint of industrial processes.

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This reprint titled “Analysis of Natural Bioactive Compounds in Plant, Food, and Pharmaceutical Products Using Chromatographic Techniques” deals with the separation and analysis of natural bioactive compounds in plants, foods, and pharmaceutical products. A growing tendency toward the discovery and use of natural bioactive compounds that are least harmful, have the fewest side effects, and fit the human body the most naturally has been noticed during the past few decades. As evidenced by the rise in recent studies on the therapeutic properties of plants, this trend has caused a return of healthcare professionals to nature and plants, but with a modern approach that specifically questions how plants help to heal humans and what their exact effects on the human body are. In order to identify and analyze natural bioactive compounds in plant, food, and pharmaceutical products, this reprint attempted to compile latest improvements, advancements, and analytical innovations in chromatographic techniques. In the last few decades, tremendous research on the analysis of natural bioactive compounds in plants, foods, and pharmaceutical products using wide range of chromatography techniques have been performed. This reprint has brought together prominent researchers who have explored a diverse applications range of chromatographic techniques in the extraction, separation, identification, and analysis of natural bioactive compounds.

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This book collects some recent scientific data on the role of polyphenols in various pathological contexts, ranging from viral infection to metabolic or chronic disorders such as diabetes and renal fibrosis. The included studies showed both in vitro and in vivo evidence concerning positive effects of polyphenols in inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress. The investigated molecules include: verbascoside from Olea europea, curcumin from Curcuma longa, phenolic acids from Antirhea borbonica, and phlorotannins from marine algae. Finally, the main flavonoids present in the human diet and their anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer roles were also discussed. The scientific data confirm the importance of the plant kingdom, both marine and terrestrial, in the search for new compounds with potential benefits for humans.

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This Special Issue of the International Journal of Molecular Science comprises a comprehensive study on “Antimicrobial Materials with Medical Applications”. The Special Issue has been inspired by the great progress made in the development of new antimicrobial materials that go beyond the resistance of microbes to modern antibiotics. It covers a selection of recent research and review articles in the field of antimicrobial materials and their medical applications. Moreover, it also provides an overview of this increasingly diverse field, presenting recent developments and the latest research, with particular emphasis on new antimicrobial surfaces, medical devices, contact lens, package materials, etc.

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Since the discovery and clinical application of penicillin, microbial natural products have played a critical role in protecting public health. However, the emergence and wide spread of drug-resistant pathogens pose a new grave threat to humankind and make this issue one of the world’s most severe public health problems. New chemical entries with antimicrobial activities, new mechanisms, or novel therapeutic methods are urgently needed for drug development. By exploring new sources, new technologies in separation and structural elucidation, genome mining, and synthetic biology, natural product research is entering a new golden age.This Special Issue on natural products with antimicrobial activities covers the discovery of new secondary metabolites, new mechanisms, and new therapeutic methods for potential application in antimicrobial drug screening and development.

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Microbial contamination of agriculture and food commodities may cause significant losses, with economic, social and environmental consequences. Therefore, the search for new, promising substances that demonstrate antagonism towards different microorganisms has been observed in recent years. Different plants, as well as differentiated methods of obtaining of biological compounds, are the research subject. Moreover, current trends focus on the sustainable recovery of antimicrobial substances from waste materials. The contributed articles present original research with a focus on: The biological activity of plant-derived extracts and oils: the research is concentrated on the discovery of new sufficient antimicrobial substances, characterized by broad biological properties including antibacterial, antifungal, antimycotoxigenic and cytotoxic activity. Novel extraction techniques to obtain plant-derived extracts such as supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), which has gained acceptance for the extraction of valuable substances due to its environmentally friendly character, or ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE). The extraction techniques of the plant-derived bioactive compounds have a significant impact on the quality of the extracts and their chemical composition

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This reprint discussed the role of retinal and optic nerve imaging in addition to its application in ophthalmic diseases and clinical medicine. It includes some high-quality articles containing original research results as well as review articles of exceptional merit.

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These days, massive consumer demands for short-term single-use plastic materials have produced huge plastic waste, which in turn has created tremendous environmental pollution. Biodegradable polymers or biopolymers can be used to develop alternatives to synthetic petroleum-based plastics. Different sources of biopolymers, like carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, as well as biodegradable polymers such as polyesters, polyamides, polyurethanes, etc., have been utilized recently to make environmentally benign biodegradable plastic.

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Natural products remain important repositories of promising therapeutic candidates due to their rich chemical and biological diversity. The Special Issue on "Bio-functional Natural Products in Edible Resources for Human Health and Beauty" is intended to offer biological active natural products from edible resources as candidates and/or leads for pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, functional foods, cosmetics, and food additives, etc. The research fields of this Special Issue include natural products chemistry, phytochemistry, pharmacognosy, food chemistry, bioorganic chemistry, chemical biology, molecular biology, molecular pharmacology, and other related research fields of bioactive natural products obtained from the edible resources. This eBook contains 12 Reviews and Articles focusing on these research areas. I hope that this eBook will be of benefit to outstanding professionals in these research areas.

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Nutritional deficiencies, and different nutritional and dietary lifestyles, whether poor or absent of essential nutrients, aside from excess intake, can lead to inflammatory complications and loss of function. Bioactive compounds are non-nutritional components derived from plants, foods, and beverages with a multitude of biological effects. The improvement of analytical techniques has allowed scientific community to state that the regular consumption of bioactive phytochemicals is related to the prevention of numerous pathologies, through mechanisms that involve oxidative stress reduction, gene expression modulation, and even enzymatic activation inhibition.

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By joining the two previous editions, this Special Issue completes the trilogy of Special Issues entitled "Biological and Pharmacological Activity of Plant Natural Compounds", which deal with the properties and effects of phytonatural products in preclinical models. This third edition has also remained focused on their therapeutic potential, with the aim of increasing and contributing to the expansion of our scientific knowledge on plants in human health. We hope readers will enjoy this Special Issue as much as the previous publications.

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This book provides an overview of the design and physico-chemical properties of nanoparticles developed for biomedical applications such as targeting and detection of pathologies, nanovectorization of drugs, radiosensitization, metal detection, and nanocomposite implants. The considerations necessary when developing a new nanomedicine are also developed, including toxicological investigation, biodistribution, and efficacy. This book provides an accurate and current representation of the field by addressing the promises and hurdles of nanomedicine via 20 different pertinent studies. Covering a wide range of areas, this book is an excellent partner for physico-chemists, doctors, pharmacologists, and biochemists working on nanosciences dedicated to medicine, both in industry and in academia.

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This Special Issue focuses on fundamental and applied aspects of the design, characterization, and properties of biopolymeric drug and gene delivery systems. It contains eleven articles, including nine original research papers and two reviews. The papers cover various topics related to the use of biopolymers (polysaccharides such as cellulose and its derivatives, starch and its derivatives, chitosan and its derivatives, hyaluronan, sodium alginate, agarose, arabinoxylan, heparin, cyclodextrin, peptides and proteins, and synthetic biopolymers) for delivery of various drugs and therapeutic nucleic acids. The biomaterials studied include polymer conjugates, nano- and submicroparticles, gels, films, and implants for drug administration via intravascular, intravitreal, buccal, topical, and implantation routes.

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Biopolymers including natural (e.g., polysaccharides, proteins, gums, natural rubbers, bacterial polymers), synthetic (e.g., aliphatic polyesters and polyphosphoester), and biocomposites are of paramount interest in regenerative medicine, due to their availability, processability, and low toxicity. Moreover, the structuration of biopolymer-based materials at the nano- and microscale along with their chemical properties are crucial in the engineering of advanced carriers for drug products. Finally, combination products including or based on biopolymers for controlled drug release offer a powerful solution to improve the tissue integration and biological response of these materials. Understanding the drug delivery mechanisms, efficiency, and toxicity of such systems may be useful for regenerative medicine and pharmaceutical technology. The main aim of the Special Issue on “Biopolymers in Drug Delivery and Regenerative Medicine” is to gather recent findings and current advances on biopolymer research for biomedical applications, particularly in regenerative medicine, wound healing, and drug delivery. Contributions to this issue can be as original research or review articles and may cover all aspects of biopolymer research, ranging from the chemical synthesis and characterization of modified biopolymers, their processing in different morphologies and hierarchical structures, as well as their assessment for biomedical uses.

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This reprint includes recent trends in all aspects of applied scientific research on chitin and collagen, including isolation, purification, and characterization. A few recent innovations in chitin and collagen have been incorporated into this reprint. These innovations could potentially be applied in various scientific and industrial research. Due to its broad array of biological functions such as anticancer, antimicrobial, bone tissue regeneration, antioxidant, and anti-aging activities, collagen has recently attracted vast interest in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmeceutical industries. Similarly, chitin and chitin-derived chitosan have many applications, including in the medical, environmental, and agricultural sectors.

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Coumarins are widely distributed in nature and can be found in a large number of naturally occurring and synthetic bioactive molecules. The unique and versatile oxygen-containing heterocyclic structure makes them a privileged scaffold in Medicinal Chemistry. Many coumarin derivatives have been extracted from natural sources, designed, synthetized, and evaluated on different pharmacological targets. In addition, coumarin-based ion receptors, fluorescent probes, and biological stains are growing quickly and have extensive applications to monitor timely enzyme activity, complex biological events, as well as accurate pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties in living cells. The extraction, synthesis, and biological evaluation of coumarins have become extremely attractive and rapidly developing topics. A large number of research and review papers have compiled information on this important family of compounds in 2020. Research articles, reviews, communications, and concept papers focused on the multidisciplinary profile of coumarins, highlighting natural sources, most recent synthetic pathways, along with the main biological applications and theoretical studies, were the main focus of this book. The huge and growing range of applications of coumarins described in this book is a demonstration of the potential of this family of compounds in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, and different sciences related to the study of natural products. This book includes 23 articles: 17 original papers and six review papers.

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The plant-derived polyphenol curcumin has been used in promoting health and combating disease for thousands of years. Its therapeutic effects have been successfully utilized in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine in order to treat inflammatory diseases. Current results from modern biomolecular research reveal the modulatory effects of curcumin on a variety of signal transduction pathways associated with inflammation and cancer. In this context, curcumin’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumorigenic, and even anti-metastatic activities are discussed. On the cellular level, the reduced activity of several transcription factors (such as NFkB or AP-1) and the suppression of inflammatory cytokines, matrix degrading enzymes, metastasis related genes and even microRNAs are reported. On functional levels, these molecular effects translate into reduced proliferative, invasive, and metastatic capacity, as well as induced tumor cell apoptosis. All these effects have been observed not only in vitro but also in animal models. In combination with anti-neoplastic drugs like Taxol, kinase inhibitors, and radiation therapy, curcumin potentiates the drugs’ therapeutic power and can protect against undesired side effects. Natural plant-derived compounds like curcumin have one significant advantage: They do not usually cause side effects. This feature qualifies curcumin for primary prevention in healthy persons with a predisposition to cancer, arteriosclerosis, or chronic inflammatory diseases. Nonetheless, curcumin is considered safe, although potential toxic effects stemming from high dosages, long-term intake, and pharmacological interactions with other compounds have yet to be assessed. This Special Issue examines in detail and updates current research on the molecular targets, protective effects, and modes of action of natural plant-derived compounds and their roles in the prevention and treatment of human diseases.

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The Special Issue provides twelve contributions, of which three original articles, seven narrative reviews, one systematic review, and one meta-analysis that, altogether, offer a multifaceted and multidisciplinary overview that allows to draw a picture as intriguing and fascinating as possible on the benefits of curcumin and also to suggest potential fields of activities still to be explored. Among the biological activities exerted by curcumin, the anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties reported in many studies make it a potential effective tool in preventing and counteracting chronic-degenerative diseases, very often associated with obesity and aging, such as cardiovascular diseases, T2D, metabolic dysfunctions, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer, all of them characterized by the presence of oxidative and inflammatory processes. The main concerns that arise from the evaluation of the preventive/therapeutic effects of curcumin are, first of all, the still small number of randomized placebo-control studies available; in addition, small sample sizes have generally been considered, and different protocols and different formulations as well as different routes of administration of curcumin have been used. Thus, it is quite difficult to compare the results and to provide a standard protocol for the use of this promising natural compound. For these reasons, and taking in account the growing use of curcumin by the general population, further investigations to confirm and expand current findings are mandatory and research on curcumin and its effects on human health have to be fostered and promoted.

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As editors of this book our aim was to collect new data from experienced authors in order to further advance the knowledge on the protective effects of polyphenols’ intake, e.g., when included in the human diet, to modulate cellular functions and pathways associated with neurodegenerative diseases.Fruits and vegetables are the richest source of polyphenols in the regular human diet. Most of these molecules possess high antioxidant capacity, as well as several other important activities that can affect human health, among which anti-inflammatory properties and the potential ability to modulate different cell-signalling pathways seem to be the most important. Neurodegenerative diseases are among the main causes of death worldwide and, in most of them like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, neurodegeneration occurs long before the onset of first symptoms, where a large population of brain neurons are already lost. Besides neurons, glial cells like astrocytes and microglia, are involved in oxidative and neuroinflammatory pathological pathways, making them interesting targets for neuroprotective strategies. Polyphenols are promising candidates for those strategies, either as prophylactic substances or as therapeutic molecules.In this book, several research papers and two reviews explore the chemical properties of naturally occurring polyphenols and some new possibilities for the therapeutical and/or prophylactic roles of these molecules on neurodegeneration and neurodegenerative diseases.

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The papers collected in this Special Issue entitled “Electrospun Nanomaterials: Applications in Food, Environmental Remediation, and Bioengineering” illustrate the high diversity and potential for implementation of electrospun nanofibers in these fields, including the covering of a wide number of subtopics. Examples of these applications have included bioactive scaffolds, wound healing dressings, compound protective nanoreservoirs and sustained and controlled release systems. An important driver of these applications results from advances in materials science and new nanofiber manufacturing processes. Definitely, such pieces of fundamental research will contribute to the promotion of electrospinning as a focal point in the future development of technological applications at the interface of biological systems, which promise long-term benefits for both health and the environment.

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