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Cultural heritage represents the link between past and present civilizations, contributing to the right appreciation of the present-day by understanding the historical evolution of different human communities that are shaping our world. Preservation of the cultural heritage and mitigating potential risks on invaluable artifacts or objectives is key to conserving the identity of present and future generations. Our complex project is dedicated to monitoring, conservation, protection and promotion of the Romanian cultural heritage. It addresses the challenge of better safeguarding the cultural heritage by developing a multidisciplinary approach.The combined use of Synthetic Aperture Radar and multispectral satellite imagery represent a non-invasive investigation instrument that enable multitemporal analysis, contributing with valuable insights regarding cultural heritage sites. Remote sensing techniques were used to generate geospatial products such as displacement maps, urban sprawl evolution maps, urban heat island maps and many more.For protecting important artifacts, innovative recipes based on nanotechnologies were developed. In order to promote these artifacts, 3D photorealistic models were created using 3D reconstruction technology. For selected cultural heritage objectives, an integrated LiDAR aerial mapping system has enabled the creation of a high accuracy 3D model.This paper illustrates how different technologies, ranging from remote sensing to nanotechnology, could be used for safeguarding and promoting the Romanian cultural heritage and represents a first step in establishing and consolidating a multidisciplinary team involved in this domain.

Plants in general (and herbs in particular) possess several compounds with very good antioxidant activity (such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, terpenes, carotenoids, and proanthocyanidins). The natural compounds responsible for the antioxidant activity also have other important biological activities, thus the use of antioxidant natural products is constantly encouraged by the scientific community, as well as by the general desire for healthy and natural food that shifted the industry to the exploration of natural antioxidants as an alternative to the synthetic additives. This review intends to briefly summarize the recent progress regarding the in vitro and in vivo evaluation of natural products antioxidant properties. The antioxidant action of plants and natural compounds, as well as the main drawbacks of the current approach and perspective for future research and the industries that have already introduced in practice natural antioxidants are also briefly discussed.

The search of valuable natural compounds should be directed towards alternative vegetal resources, and to the re-discovery of underutilized plants. Belonging to the Plantaginaceae family, the hoary plantain (Plantago media L.) represents one of the lesser studied species from the Plantago genus. The literature study revealed the under-utilization of the hoary plantain, a surprising aspect, considering its widespread. If the composition of Plantago media L. is rather well established, its applications are not nearly studied as for other Plantago species. The goal of the present paper is to summarize the findings regarding the applications of P. media, and, having as starting point the applications of related species, to propose new emerging areas of research, such as the biomedical applications validation through in vivo assays, and the evaluation of its potential towards industrial applications (i.e., development of food or personal care products), pisciculture or zootechny, phytoremediation and other environmental protection applications, or in the nanotechnology area (materials phytosynthesis). The present work constitutes not only a brief presentation of this plant’s present and potential applications, but also an invitation to research groups world-wide to explore the available vegetal resources.

In recent years, food packaging has evolved from an inert and polluting waste that remains after using the product toward an active item that can be consumed along with the food it contains. Edible films and coatings represent a healthy alternative to classic food packaging. Therefore, a significant number of studies have focused on the development of biodegradable enveloping materials based on biopolymers. Animal and vegetal proteins, starch, and chitosan from different sources have been used to prepare adequate packaging for perishable food. Moreover, these edible layers have the ability to carry different active substances such as essential oils—plant extracts containing polyphenols—which bring them considerable antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. This review presents the latest updates on the use of edible films/coatings with different compositions with a focus on natural compounds from plants, and it also includes an assessment of their mechanical and physicochemical features. The plant compounds are essential in many cases for considerable improvement of the organoleptic qualities of embedded food, since they protect the food from different aggressive pathogens. Moreover, some of these useful compounds can be extracted from waste such as pomace, peels etc., which contributes to the sustainable development of this industry.

The strawberries represent in our days one of the main fresh fruits consumed globally, inevitably leading to large amounts of by-products and wastes. Usually appreciated because of their specific flavor, the strawberries also possess biological properties, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, or anti-inflammatory effects. In spite of the wide spread of the Fragaria genus, few species represent the subject of the last decade scientific research. The main components identified in the Fragaria species are presented, as well as several biological properties, as emerging from the scientific papers published in the last decade.

Continuously growing demand for plant derived therapeutic molecules obtained in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner favors biotechnological production and development of innovative extraction techniques to obtain phytoconstituents. What is more, improving and optimization of alternative techniques for the isolation of high value natural compounds are issues having both social and economic importance. In this critical review, the aspects regarding plant biotechnology and green downstream processing, leading to the production and extraction of increased levels of fine chemicals from both plant cell, tissue, and organ culture or fresh plant materials and the remaining by-products, are discussed.

When dealing with cultural heritage artifacts, the use of non-invasive and non-destructive analyses techniques is a must . Determination of the surface corrosion layers and coin composition is important both for identifying compounds that form different alloys (which can be considered support material for important objects, such as numismatic artifacts), and also for their conservation. The selection of analytical techniques is of great importance, as it is a strict condition that the structure of the artifacts should not be affected. The paper presents the archaeometallurgical study of seven silver coins, using several nuclear techniques (X-ray fluorescence – XRF, X-ray diffraction – XRD, Particle induced X-ray emission – PIXE) and optical microscopy. The study was performed using bulk methods and micro-area measurements in order to establish their composition, as well as the presence of corrosion products. This could, in turn, provide information in support of the categorization in genuine/possible forgery. From the analyzed set of samples, six can be surely categorized as genuine, while one raises some questions. A decisive conclusion cannot be drawn for one of the analyzed samples, but the scientific evidences suggest either a misstruck or a forgery approximately contemporary with the original issue of these coins.

Books represent a very important part of the cultural heritage, due to their double characteristics: first, as a man-made material and secondly, due to the information they store. The characterization of book paper represents a very important step in developing solutions for better conservation procedures, as well as for fully understanding their provenance. The present paper describes the analytical and microbiological evaluation of a collection of books from the nineteenth century, belonging to the authors’ private collections. The samples consisted of four books printed in Romania and five printed in France. The analytical characterization was performed using optical microscopy, thermal analysis, spectroscopic methods (X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), as well as by the evaluation of the degree of polymerization and the color change. The analyses were chosen in order to be either non-destructive or, at least, micro-destructive. The fungal loading determination was performed by plating the samples on the potato dextrose agar and Sabouraud with chloramphenicol agar media, for 28 days, followed by macroscopically and microscopically identification of mold species. The present study offers a complex methodology regarding the use of non- or micro-invasive techniques for evaluating the composition, state of degradation and potential risks related to microorganism colonization of paper artifacts.

Leonurus cardiaca L. (motherwort) is a perennial herb, native to Asia and southeastern Europe, with widespread global occurrence in present days. The plant was historically used as cardiotonic and for treating gynaecological afflictions (such as amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, menopausal anxiety, or postpartum depression). Although its use in oriental and occidental medicine is relatively well documented, the recent progress registered raises the need for an update of the Medicines Agency assessment report on Leonurus cardiaca L., herba (2010). The current study presents the progress made within the 2010-2018 timeframe regarding the potential applications and scientific evidences supporting the traditional use of motherwort, in the same time suggesting future research opportunities.

Natural compounds obtained from different medicinal and aromatic plants have gained respect as alternative treatments to synthetic drugs, as well as raw materials for different applications (cosmetic, food and feed industries, environment protection, and many others). Based on a literature survey on dedicated databases, the aim of the present work is to be a critical discussion of aspects regarding classical extraction versus modern extraction techniques; possibilities to scale up (advantages and disadvantages of different extraction methods usually applied and the influence of extraction parameters); and different medicinal and aromatic plants’ different applications (medical and industrial applications, as well as the potential use in nanotechnology). As nowadays, research studies are directed toward the development of modern, innovative applications of the medicinal and aromatic plants, aspects regarding future perspectives are also discussed.

The development of methods for obtaining new materials with antimicrobial properties, based on green chemistry principles has been a target of research over the past few years. The present paper describes the phyto-mediated synthesis of metallic nano-architectures (gold and silver) via an ethanolic extract of Melissa officinalis L. (obtained by accelerated solvent extraction). Different analytic methods were applied for the evaluation of the extract composition, as well as for the characterization of the phyto-synthesized materials. The cytogenotoxicity of the synthesized materials was evaluated by Allium cepa assay, while the antimicrobial activity was examined by applying both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results demonstrate the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (average diameter 13 nm) and gold nanoparticles (diameter of ca. 10 nm); the bi-metallic nanoparticles proved to have a core-shell flower-like structure, composed of smaller particles (ca. 8 nm). The Ag nanoparticles were found not active on nuclear DNA damage. The Au nanoparticles appeared nucleoprotective, but were aggressive in generating clastogenic aberrations in A. cepa root meristematic cells. Results of the antimicrobial assays show that silver nanoparticles were active against most of the tested strains, as the lowest MIC value being obtained against B. cereus (approx. 0.0015 mM).

Satureja hortensis L. (summer savory) is an annual herbaceous crop, native to Europe and in our days spread and used all over the world. Although its use as spice and medicinal plant is known since ancient times, peer-reviewed studies presenting the scientific data are scarce. The natural products obtained from summer savory (extracts and essential oil) are dominated by polyphenols and flavonoids, responsible for their antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, pesticidal, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, hepatoprotective and anticancer properties, among others. The current study presents the progress made in the last decade regarding the potential applications of summer savory, being the first review study focused on S. hortensis, in the same time suggesting future research opportunities, as they appear from the properties of other Satureja species. The available data presenting the properties of summer savory represents a scientific support for application in industry, for developing “clean label” food products.