Wound healing is a complex, tightly regulated process essential for maintaining skin barrier function. Chronic wounds, often complicated by biofilm-forming bacteria and elevated oxidative stress, pose significant challenges in clinical management. The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has further exacerbated the problem, limiting therapeutic options and complicating wound treatment. Traditional wound care approaches frequently fail to provide real-time accurate insights into wound status, leading to delayed or suboptimal treatments. Recent advancements in modern and smart wound dressings, which integrate various biosensors, different new drug delivery systems, and wireless communication technology, offers promising solutions for monitoring wound progression over time. These innovations enable early detection of adverse events such as bacterial infections and inflammation, facilitating more effective, on-demand treatment. This review highlights the current state of antibiotic-embedded wound dressings, discusses their limitations, and explores the potential of next-generation wound dressings incorporating microelectronic sensors for real-time monitoring and adaptive therapeutic responses to support healing and combat antimicrobial resistance.

Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) are one of the most important dietary sources of carotenoids, especially lycopene, a bioactive compound associated with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective effects. This review synthesizes recent data on the phytochemical composition of tomatoes, with a focus on lycopene, its main biological mechanisms and health benefits, including the reduction in oxidative stress. The manuscript also highlights the influence of thermal processing and food matrix on the bioavailability of lycopene, as well as the role of innovative formulation and nanoencapsulation systems in increasing its stability and absorption. Modern extraction and analysis methods are also presented, including ultrasound, microwave and supercritical-fluid-assisted techniques, along with HPLC chromatographic methods. A distinctive element is the analysis of lycopene-based food supplements available on the markets in Romania, Europe and the United States, from the perspective of composition, standardization and safety. Current data support the potential of lycopene as a valuable nutraceutical ingredient, but further clinical studies are needed to confirm therapeutic benefits.

Quercetin is one of the most abundant plant flavonoids and an intensively studied bioactive compound belonging to the class of functional heterocyclic compounds with outstanding biological activities, due to its numerous biological, pharmacological and therapeutic effects. This paper presents the main information on the chemical structure, dietary sources, absorption, metabolism and bioavailability of quercetin, highlighting the role of the intestinal microbiota in the formation of metabolites responsible for an important part of its effects. The limitations related to stability and bioavailability are analyzed as well as modern formulation strategies and advanced delivery systems aimed at improving the efficacy of the compound. The major biological activities of quercetin are also summarized, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antiviral, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, metabolic and anticancer effects. Unlike previous reviews, which have generally addressed these topics separately, the present work integrates the gut-microbiota-mediated metabolism, cellular senescence, advanced delivery systems, combined therapies, and safety and regulatory considerations within a unified translational framework. Overall, this review emphasizes the need to relate the multifunctional biological potential of quercetin to its pharmacokinetic limitations, formulation performance and clinically achievable exposure while highlighting the need for standardized formulations and further clinical studies to validate its therapeutic benefits.