Molecules Webinar | Biological and Pharmacological Activity of Plant Natural Compounds

Molecules, Biological Activity, Pharmacological Activity, Plant Natural Compounds

Webinar Information

5th Molecules Webinar

Biological and Pharmacological Activity of Plant Natural Compounds

Plants are a rich source of numerous compounds with potential effects on living organisms including animals and humans. In particular, the health benefits of plant- derived molecules are increasing day to day, due to the hard work of biological and pharmacological exploration made by researchers all over the world.
In this Webinar, colleagues from different countries will evaluate fundamental aspects of phytochemicals, such as microbiome modulators, anti-inflammatory plants in arthritis, new methods for antimicrobial activity and antiradical activity of pigmented rice in humans.
The lectures in this webinar can be considered part of the Special Issue entitled “Biological and pharmacological activity of plant natural compounds”.

Prof. Dr. Raffaele Pezzani
University of Padova, Italy

Prof. Dr. Sara Vitalini
University of Milan, Italy

Date: 8 April 2021

Time: 9:00 am CEST

Webinar ID: 891 1066 1899

Webinar Secretariat: molecules.webinar@mdpi.com

Chairs: Prof. Dr. Raffaele Pezzani & Prof. Dr. Sara Vitalini

The following experts will present and talk:

Prof. Dr. Raffaele Pezzani, University of Padova, Italy	Raffaele Pezzani is both a biologist and a physician with a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Padova, Italy. He has over 60 scientific publications with more than 1000 citations. He has been serving as an Editorial Board Member and as an editor of reputed impacted journals. He is the principal investigator of his research group in Padova (Phytotherapy Lab—PhT-LAB), with a long lasting and effective experience (more than 20 years) in biology and medicine.
Prof. Dr. Sara Vitalini, University of Milan, Italy	Sara Vitalini is a biologist with a PhD in Plant Biology and Crop Production from the University of Milano, Italy. She is the author of more than 60 peer-reviewed papers and serves as a regular referee, Editorial Board Member and Guest Editor of several international journals. Her research group is mainly concerned with ethnopharmacology, pharmaceutical biology and phytochemistry.
Prof. Dr. Natália Cruz-Martins, University of Porto, Portugal	Natália Cruz-Martins (PhD, Researcher, Professor) has a huge background in dietetics and nutrition, natural product chemistry and biochemistry, drug discovery, phytochemistry, phytopharmacology, functional foods and nutraceuticals. She has increasingly focused on the use of naturally occurring bioactives for human health, not only from a point of view of health promotion and disease prevention, but also treatment. She is a member of the evaluation panel of the College of Nutritionists (Porto, Portugal) and of the Council for Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (CONEM, Norway). She has participated in various research projects, received several grants and awards, and published >130 articles in peer-reviewed, highly reputed, international journals (H-index: 26), 10 book chapters, and presented more than 40 communications at national and international conferences.
Prof. Dr. Nunziatina De Tommasi, University of Salerno, Italy	Prof. Nunziatina De Tommasi is a full professor of Pharmaceutical Biology at the Dipartimento di Farmacia, Università di Salerno (Italy). Her research focuses on the development of chemical and biological tools for the study of food and medicinal plants. Particularly, her research interests have been mainly devoted to: a) the chemical and biological investigation of bioactive plant molecules as lead compounds in the area of antitumoral, and anti-inflammatory; b) the investigation of the molecular mechanism of action of bioactive natural products and of ligand-receptor interactions via cell-free and cell-based techniques. To date, she has co-authored over 270 scientific articles (h-index 39, citations 6437) on the chemistry and bioactivity of plants and their specialized metabolites.
Prof. Dr. Ladislav Kokoska, Czech University of Life Sciences, Czech Republic	Prof. Ladislav Kokoska is a Full Professor leading the Laboratory of Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology at the Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences of the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Czech Republic. His research team focuses on the bioprospection of biologically active natural products derived from tropical plants, especially from species used by native people in traditional medicinal systems. Together with his colleague Dr. Houdkova, Ladislav developed novel methodological concepts for the evaluation of biological activity of plant volatiles in vapor phase.
Prof. Dr. Marcello Iriti, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy	Professor of Plant Biology and Pathology. He has been studying bioactive phytochemicals relevant for human nutrition and health, including melatonin, polyphenols, carotenoids, sterols and essential oils, focusing on their functional role in plants, as well as on their in vitro/in vivo properties and in human biological activities. Furthermore, he has been investigating the effects of elicitors on plant secondary metabolism, as an approach to obtaining phytochemical-enriched plant foods and medicinal herbs. Author of more than 200 publications (H-index: 44). Member of the Asian Council of Science Editors and Society of African Journal Editors. Founding Member of the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine. Member of the Working Group “Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy” of the Italian Pharmacological Society. Main Patent: “Compositions Comprising Rutin Useful for the Treatment of Tumors Resistant to Chemotherapy” (WO2015036875A1; US20160213698; US9757405B2; EP3043821).

Program

Speaker/Presentation	Time in CEST
Prof. Dr. Raffaele Pezzani & Prof. Dr. Sara Vitalini Introduction	9:00 – 9:05 am
Prof. Dr. Natália Cruz-Martins Plant-Food-Derived Bioactives as Human Microbiome Modulators: From Micro to Macro Concerns	9:05 – 9:25 am
Prof. Dr. Nunziatina De Tommasi Herbal Preparations Endowed With Anti-Inflammatory Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis	9:25 – 9:45 am
Prof. Dr. Ladislav Kokoska Broth Microdilution Volatilization Assay: New Quantitative Method for Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity in Vapour Phase	9:45 – 10:05 am
Prof. Dr. Marcello Iriti Plasma Polyphenol Levels and Antiradical Capacity After Acute Intake of Pigmented Rice in Humans	10:05 – 10:25 am
Q&A and Discussion	10:25 – 10:40 am
Closing of Webinar Prof. Dr. Raffaele Pezzani & Prof. Dr. Sara Vitalini	10:40 – 10:45 am

Webinar Content

The webinar in Molecules series related to the Special Issue "Biological and Pharmacological Activity of Plant Natural Compounds II" was held on Thursday 08 April 2021. Chaired by Prof. Dr. Raffaele Pezzani from the University of Padova (Italy) and Prof. Dr. Sara Vitalini from the University of Milan (Italy), the webinar addressed the topic of bioactive plant molecules from different points of view.

The first speaker was Prof. Dr. Natalia Cruz-Martins from the University of Porto (Portugal). She provided an overview of the impact of naturally-occurring bioactives derived from plant foods on the human microbiome and their future applications and perspectives. Subsequently, Prof. Dr. Marinella De Leo from the University of Pisa (Italy) presented the results of the chemical and biological investigation on the anti-inflammatory activity of an herbal mixture (containing propolis, pomegranate, and grape pomace), focusing on the effects in rheumatoid arthritis. Her presentation was followed by that of Prof. Dr. Ladislav Kokoska from the Czech University of Life Sciences (Czech Republic). He talked about the validity of a new method developed for quantitatively evaluating the antimicrobial activity of phytochemicals in vapor phase. The fourth speaker was Prof. Dr. Marcello Iriti from the University of Milan (Italy), who showed interesting data on the variation of bioactive compounds from pigmented rice cultivars and on their antiradical activity after cooking followed by acute intake in human subjects.

The webinar ended with a Q&A session, moderated by the Chairs to answer questions submitted by audience. The webinar was offered via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found here on Sciforum website.

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Registration

In order to attend the webinar, please register by clicking on the button below.

This is a FREE webinar. The number of participants to the live session is limited but the recording will be made available on Sciforum shortly afterwards. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized. People can send in their questions by email to molecules.webinar@mdpi.com.

Relevant Special Issues

Biological and Pharmacological Activity of Plant Natural Compounds II
Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Raffaele Pezzani, Prof. Dr. Sara Vitalini
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2021

Antimicrobial Activity of Plant Volatiles in Vapor Phase
Guest Editor: Dr. Ladislav Kokoska
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2021