The Solanum genus, the most extensive within the Solanaceae family, encompasses around 2,000 species. Among them are popular edible members like tomatoes, eggplants, and potatoes, which are not only staples in global cuisines but also have a long - standing history of medicinal use. These plants are a rich reservoir of essential nutrients and an array of secondary metabolites, including alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, terpenes, coumarins, and phenolic compounds. These bioactive substances endow Solanum species with diverse physiological functions, such as anti-cancer, antioxidant, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, hepatoprotective, anti-obesity, and antidiabetic properties.

They present opportunities for promoting human health, either by being incorporated into daily diets or serving as sources for developing nutraceuticals and biopharmaceuticals. However, it is crucial to be cognizant of their potential toxicity. The aim of this review is to comprehensively summarize the current knowledge about these edible-medicinal Solanum species, exploring their potential in promoting human health and their applications in food science. With proper utilization, Solanum species hold great promise for enhancing human well-being and driving the progress of food science, offering innovative solutions for both nutrition-based health improvement and pharmaceutical research.

Mitochondrial dynamics, encompassing fusion and fission processes, plays a crucial role in regulating mitochondrial distribution, motility, and material exchange within cells, particularly in the nervous system. Mitofusin-2 (MFN2), a GTPase localized to the outer mitochondrial membrane, mediates mitochondrial fusion through dimerization and conformational changes. Mutations in MFN2 are causal for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2A (CMT2A), an inherited peripheral neuropathy for which no curative treatment currently exists. Herein, we have developed a comprehensive mitochondrial drug-screening and evaluation platform to facilitate the identification of potential therapeutic candidates. This work builds upon our previous research with S89, a small molecule agonist derived from spiramine alkaloids that promotes mitochondrial fusion by interacting with endogenous MFN1 and effectively mitigates axonal degeneration in CMT2A patient-derived motor neurons. This platform integrates three sequential stages of assessment: (1) initial screening in Mfn knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) to identify compounds capable of reversibly rescuing mitochondrial fragmentation; (2) evaluation in primary neuronal cultures derived from CMT2A mouse dorsal root ganglia and cortex to assess the compounds' efficacy in restoring mitochondrial morphology, axonal transport, and neurite outgrowth; and (3) final assessment in CMT2A patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-differentiated motor neurons to determine the candidates' therapeutic potential in human peripheral nervous system cells. This multi-tiered approach facilitates rapid compound screening with increasing physiological relevance, enhancing the efficiency and translational potential of identifying therapeutic candidates for CMT2A.

Piper nigrum and Piper longum are globally popular spices, listed in the catalog of medicinal food homology. Their fruits are abundant in amide alkaloids, exhibiting a wide range of biological activities. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the research on amide alkaloids from those two edible species, focusing on their activities and mechanisms of action. 239 amide alkaloids are summarized in this review, of which 97 exhibit anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and neuroprotective effects. The anti-inflammatory properties of amide alkaloids are associated with the ERK and NF-κB signaling pathways. Their anti-tumor effects are mediated through the Src/ERK/STAT3, ERK1/2, p38 MAPK, and Akt pathways. Additionally, the neuroprotective benefits are linked to the NGF/Trka/Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway. These findings suggest that P. nigrum and P. longum could be valuable for promoting human health care.

Portulaca oleracea L., commonly known as purslane, is a worldwide weed species belonging to the family Portulacaceae and has been known as “Global Panacea”. As one of the most widely consumed green vegetables and medicinal plants around the world, it has recently been re-evaluated as a potential “new crop” due to the properties that differentiate it as one of the best vegetable sources of omega-3 fatty acid (α-linolenic acid), as well as a variety of nutrients and phytochemicals. Accordingly, emerging research has found that purslane exhibits health-promoting properties like anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperglycemic, antioxidant, neuroprotective, and immunomodulatory. These findings suggest that this species possesses a potential using as a dietary supplement beyond potherb and traditional medicine. This review systematically summarizes the up-to-date research carried out on purslane, including the nutritional compositions, bioactive compounds, and health benefits it exerts as well as limitations, challenges, and future directions of research. Finally, we hope that this review would provide purslane with a comprehensive reference and future scope as functional and health-promoting food for disease prevention and treatment.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the major form of neurodegenerative diseases that can severely impede normal cognitive function, makes it one of the most common fatal diseases. There are currently over 50 million AD patients worldwide. The neuropathology of AD is perplexing and there is a scarcity of disease-modifying treatments. Currently, early diagnosis of AD has been made possible with the discovery of biological markers associated with pathology, providing strong support for the improvement of the disease status. The search for inhibitors of AD markers from dietary supplements (DSs) has become a major hot topic. Especially with the widespread use of DSs, DSs containing polyphenols, alkaloids, terpenes, polysaccharides and other bioactive components can prevent AD by reducing Aβ deposition, inhibiting tau protein hyperphosphorylation, reconstructing synaptic dysfunction, weakening cholinesterase activity, regulating mitochondrial oxidative stress, neuronal inflammation and apoptosis. This review summarizes the anti-AD effects of the main DSs and their bioactive constituents, as well as the potential molecular mechanisms covers from 2017 to 2023. Additionally, we discussed the opportunities and challenges faced by DSs in the process of AD prevention and treatment, aiming to further provide new perspectives for functional food development.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder disease, and the number of diabetic patients will reach 578 million by 2030 predictably. Currently, 8 classes of small molecular drugs are used for treating diabetes. However, these drugs cannot completely meet patients' needs, due to diabetic complications need to be addressed along with diabetes, such as nephropathy, and cardiovascular diseases. Besides, more types of drugs need to be provided for more choices. Hence, scientists still seek lead compounds with hypoglycemic effects. Natural products (NPs) are a reservoir of diverse structures and bioactivities with low toxicity and less side effects. And some of them show effects on diabetic complications, which is a significant idea for drug development. This review aims to summarize natural products with hypoglycemic effects and their details, such as potential mechanisms, biological data, and particularly their advantages in treating diabetes. Considering the huge number of NPs was reported with anti-diabetic activity, and some of them need to be re-validated, this review focuses on the bioactive compounds with in vivo activities. In the end, the trend of natural products treating diabetes was discussed. We hope this review provide a comprehensive and convincing summary, thus lending support to anti-diabetic natural products research.