Nowadays, climate change is not the only threat facing our planet. There are also other types of pollution such as waste that poisons soils and water and kills plants, harming humans and animals. Sustainability represents a key issue for the actual Global Citizen. For this reason, our article is dedicated to offering biofriendly solutions to decrease wastes, give them a positive meaning, such as a substrate for an edible oyster fungus with nutritive and biological properties usefully for humans. Three types of wastes such as coconut coir, pine sawdust, and paper waste—representative symbols of pollution in Ecuador—have been tested as suitable growing substrate for the edible fungi Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq. ex Fr.) P. Kumm by analyzing parameters such as Biological Efficiency, Mushroom Yield, and Productive Rate. The influence of these “waste” substrates on the nutritive (protein content), biological characteristic (antioxidant activity), and the content of human-health-sustaining compounds (phenols, flavonoids) were also evaluated using the Kjeldahal, DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, and Folin–Ciocalteu methods. The results indicate that all the waste products represent desirable substrates for growing the edible fungi, with more focus on coconut coir waste (one of the principal pollution problems in Ecuador), but that also achieved the increase in the fungi’s desirable characteristics. Coconut coir waste could be an environmentally friendly solution that also offers for humans additional nutritive and healthy benefits.

Agriculture is an important economic sector for Ecuador, sustained by food crops like maize, potatoes, and vegetables cultivated in the highlands while cash crops such as coffee, bananas, cacao, and palm oil are grown on the coastal plains. But, Ecuador is also a country under the influence of several natural hazards due to its geographical location, atmospheric dynamics, and geological characteristics. One of the main risks to food security is the presence of a large number of active volcanoes scattered all over the country with the most representative enemy, the falling volcanic ash. The bibliography in general highlights the potential toxicity of volcanic ash from a human health perspective, but it also negatively influences plant development at the seed’s germination, as well as low crop pollination, damaged fruits, reduced leaf respiration depending on the type of crop, the developmental stage, the ash layer, and the climate. The mineral composition of the volcanic ash can also be beneficial for the soil by increasing fertility but at the same time with contrasting effects on plants due to the influence on soil characteristics such as pH, soil aeration, and biodiversity, which can detrimentally affect some crops.

In this study, the influence of different tea extract substrates on the biological activities of kombucha beverages was investigated. The variations in bioactive compounds such as polyphenols and flavonoids and their potential health-promoting properties represented by antioxidant activity were analyzed. Our findings shed light on the diverse effects of tea substrates on the production of bioactive compounds and their subsequent impact on the biological activities of kombucha, providing valuable insights for optimizing kombucha production and its potential health benefits. The new tea substrate for kombucha, called horchata, an Ecuadorian tea, shows a similar trend but with a low content of phenolics (4.511 ± 0.111 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry weight (DW)) and flavonoids (1.902 ± 0.0455 mg quercetin equivalent (QE)/g DW), and antioxidant activity (DPPH—33.569 ± 1.377 µmol TROLOX/g DW, ABTS—20.898 ± 2.709 µmol TROLOX/g DW, FRAP—34.456 ± 2.0618 Fe²⁺ mM/100 g DW compared to black and green tea as substrates for kombucha. Through HPLC-DAD, several polyphenols were registered, and homovanillic acid showed the highest concentration (74.45 mg/100 g). Horchata kombucha scored the highest in sweetness and smell, reflecting its popularity among the tasters, making it a valuable candidate as a kombucha substrate.

In Ecuador, the cultivation of two main coffee species, Coffea arabica L. and Coffea canephora L., holds significant economic, environmental, social, and public health importance. C. arabica displays wide adaptability to diverse growing conditions, while C. canephora exhibits less versatility in adaptation but is superior in metabolite production in the ripe fruits (with the potential to double caffeine content). Our hypothesis revolves around the differences in the production of secondary metabolites, antioxidant capacity and sensory attributes based on the environmental conditions of the two studies species cultivated in Ecuador. The assessment of the metabolic composition of high-altitude coffee grown in Ecuador involved the determination of secondary metabolites and quantification of the antioxidant capacity through the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay, 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) quenching assay, and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay. In the case of C. arabica, a high positive correlation was observed for total phenolic content (TPC) (4.188 ± 0.029 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry weight (dw)) and total flavonoid content (TFC) (0.442 ± 0.001 mg quercetin (QE)/g dw) with the antioxidant activity determined through ABTS free-radical-scavenging activity (23.179 ± 1.802 µmol Trolox (TEAC)/g dw) (R = 0.68), a medium correlation with DPPH^• radical-scavenging activity (65.875 ± 1.129 µmol TEAC/g dw) (R = 0.57), and a low correlation with ferric reducing antioxidant power assay ((100.164 ± 0.332 µmol Fe²⁺/g dw) (R = 0.27). A high correlation (R > 90) was observed for the values evaluated in the case of C. canephora. The caffeine content was high in C. arabica beans from Los Ríos province and in C. canephora beans from Loja.

Urban lakes play important roles in microclimate regulation such as controlling run-off and groundwater recharge, as well as being a source of water supply and a habitat for a wide variety of flora and fauna. Bucharest has a wide variety of water resources where phytoplankton represent the dominant primary producer, the defining biological factor for zooplankton development. Our hypothesis was that as a result of anthropogenic pressures, phytoplankton in the urban aquatic ecosystems diminish the qualitative and quantitative capacity to maintain a good health condition with effects on the food web. By the structural features of the phytoplankton and zooplankton communities, the objectives were to determine the changes in diversity in different types of urban lakes, to explore the relationships between communities, and to determine the response of phytoplankton and zooplankton functional groups to the environmental factors. The ecological status assessed by Chlorophyll-a (µL⁻¹) highlights that most of the investigated lakes were eutrophic and hypereutrophic. The phytoplankton were influenced by lake types, seasonal variations and nutrient input. The dominance of the Chlorophyceae, Cyanobacteria and Bacillariophyceae influenced the zooplankton’s development. The rotifers were the most represented in both species richness and abundance in zooplankton, followed by Copepoda young stages.

Soil nutrients influence all stages (reproduction, growth, and development) of a plant species’ life, and it is known that the deficit and/or toxicity of one or more nutrients has negative effects on the production of crops of commercial interest. Ecuador represents one of the “mega-diverse” countries in the world, with an agricultural sector of great importance, due to its contribution to the country’s economy. This review provides a panoramic view of soil nutrients from different climatic regions of Ecuador and revises the importance of knowledge about the possible influence of nutrients from the soil on the plant metabolism able to influence the crop resistance against pathogens or to enrich the biological characteristics of these crops.