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Food extract’s biological effect and its improvement using nanotechnologies is one of the challenges of the last and the future decades; for this reason, the antioxidant effect of scarlet eggplant extract liposomal incorporation was investigated. Scarlet eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) is a member of the Solanaceae family, and it is one of the most consumed vegetables in tropical Africa and south of Italy. This study investigated the antioxidant activity and the phytochemical composition of S. aethiopicum grown in the Basilicata Region for the first time. The whole fruit, peel, and pulp were subjected to ethanolic exhaustive maceration extraction, and all extracts were investigated. The HPLC-DAD analysis revealed the presence of ten phenolic compounds, including hydroxycinnamic acids, flavanones, flavanols, and four carotenoids (one xanthophyll and three carotenes). The peel extract was the most promising, active, and the richest in specialized metabolites; hence, it was tested on HepG2 cell lines and incorporated into liposomes. The nanoincorporation enhanced the peel extract’s antioxidant activity, resulting in a reduction of the concentration used. Furthermore, the extract improved the expression of endogenous antioxidants, such as ABCG2, CAT, and NQO1, presumably through the Nrf2 pathway.

For centuries, natural medicines have represented the only option for treating human diseases and, nowadays, plant phytochemicals are considered as promising compounds to treat or prevent chronic conditions. Among them, hop flowers (Humulus lupulus L.), typically used in brewing industries to give the typical aroma and flavor to beer, have attracted particular attention for their health promoting properties. Several in vivo/vitro studies and human interventional trials have demonstrated the beneficial effects of these molecules on weight gain, lipid metabolism, glucose homeostasis, insulin sensitivities, and inflammation by acting on different targets. All these activities suggest a possible role of bitter hop acid in preventing metabolic syndrome and its related diseases. A systematic quest on PubMed and Scopus databases was performed to identify pre-clinical and clinical studies focusing on this topic. This systematic review summarizes the results obtained by different cell lines, animal models, and human interventional trials to propose iso-α-acids as medical nutrition therapy to treat or prevent metabolic syndrome and its related disorders as diabetes, dislipidemia inflammation, etc.

Dittrichia graveolens L. Greuter belonging to the Asteraceae family, is an aromatic herbaceous plant native to the Mediterranean region. This plant species has been extensively studied for its biological activities, including antioxidant, antitumor, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anticholinesterase, and antityrosinase, and for its peculiar metabolic profile. In particular, bioactivities are related to terpenes and flavonoids metabolites, such as borneol (40), tomentosin (189), inuviscolide (204). However, D. graveolens is also well known for causing health problems both in animals and humans. Moreover, the species is currently undergoing a dramatic northward expansion of its native range related to climate change, now including North Europe, California, and Australia. This review represents an updated overview of the 52 literature papers published in Scopus and PubMed dealing with expansion, chemistry (262 different compounds), pharmacological effects, and toxicology of D. graveolens up to October 2021. The review is intended to boost further studies to determine the molecular pathways involved in the observed activities, bioavailability, and clinical studies to explore new potential applications.