Nowadays, one of the most important research directions that concerns the scientific world is to exploit the earth’s resources in a sustainable way. Considering the increasing interest in finding new sources of bioactive molecules and functional products, many research studies focused their interest on demonstrating the sustainability of exploiting marine macroalgal biomass as feedstock for wastewater treatment and natural fertilizer, conversion into green biofuels, active ingredients in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products, or even for the production of functional ingredients and integration in the human food chain. The objective of the present paper was to provide an overview on the recent progress in the exploitation of different macroalgae species as a source of bioactive compounds, mainly emphasizing the latter published data regarding their potential bioactivities, health benefits, and industrial applications.

Cereal processing generates around 12.9% of all food waste globally. Wheat bran, wheat germ, rice bran, rice germ, corn germ, corn bran, barley bran, and brewery spent grain are just a few examples of wastes that may be exploited to recover bioactive compounds. As a result, a long-term strategy for developing novel food products and ingredients is encouraged. High-value compounds like proteins, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, ferulic acid, and other phenols, tocopherols, or β-glucans are found in cereal by-products. This review aims to provide a critical and comprehensive overview of current knowledge regarding the bioactive compounds recovered from cereal by-products, emphasizing their functional values and potential human health benefits.

Wine is one of the most consumed beverages in the world. Romania, as a country, has a history in vineyards and wine making. This present study analyzed the phenolic compounds of 5 varieties of wine from Romania (Fetească Regală Muscat Ottonel, Riesling Italian, Pinot Gris and Merlot). The results suggested that some of the wines present a wide category of phenolic compounds where others present low values and some of the compounds are absent as detected with a developed HPLC-DAD-ESI+ method. Phenolic compounds were identified after the retention time. Merlot wine presented, in most cases, the highest values for phenolic compounds, with a few exceptions. As a conclusion, romanian wines are rich in phenolic compounds that possess a series of beneficial properties.

The elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) is known for its high anthocyanin content and strong antioxidant activity, which is why multiple extraction methods are being analysed to choose the most favourable method considering both economic and environmental aspects for extracting the analysed plant matrix. The extract obtained must exhibit a certain stability to be included in various food products as a colorant without losing its beneficial properties on the product. This work aims to select the most suitable extraction methods for the analysed plant matrix to achieve the most beneficial results.

Antioxidant capacity and antimicrobial activity are tremenously importance process that possess the ability to protect the body from damage and infection caused by free radicals and bacteria. The bioactive compounds of Crataegus monogyna were evaluated in order to valorize these products as sources of natural additive. Analytical techniques such as extraction, determination of total polyphenols and flavonoids, demonstrative antioxidant and antimicrobial of extracts from C. monogyna were done in order to evaluate conservation capacity. Polyphenols are the major source of bioactive compounds obtained from the small red fruits of the hawthorn plant. Hawthorn fruit extracts could inhibit the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein. Due to increased interest in fruit consumption and growing of it products, there is positive effect on fruit polyphenols on human healt.

Black elder (Sambucus nigra L.) has a lot of health benefits and is used for several purposes depending on the morphological part of the plant. Although the benefits of elderflower fruit have been known in Europe and America for a very long time, in recent years it has been of increasing interest to the food and pharmaceutical industry. The present paper shows the evaluation of the biochemical compounds of some extracts from elderberries with the aim of being used as natural food additives. Numerous studies demonstrate that due to its high nutritional value, elderberry can be used as a functional ingredient in a wide range of food products. These fruits contain a small amount of cyanogenic glycosides, which are potentially toxic, for this reason many consider it harmful to the human body, but this compound can be eliminated by applying thermal treatments. Depending on the degree of pollution in the harvesting area, the quality of elderberries may show deficiencies in the amount of biochemical compounds and an increase in the amount of heavy metals. Being rich in antioxidants, flavonoids and volatile compounds, it can be a suitable source for obtaining natural dyes and flavourings.