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The incidence of gastrointestinal pathologies (cancer in particular) has increased progressively, with considerable morbidity and mortality, and a high economic impact on the healthcare system. The dietary intake of natural phytochemicals with certain bioactive properties has shown therapeutic and preventive effects on these pathologies. This includes the cruciferous vegetable derivative phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a bioactive compound present in some vegetables, such as watercress. Notably, PEITC has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, bactericidal, and anticarcinogenic properties. This review summarized the current knowledge on the role of PEITC as a potential natural nutraceutical or an adjuvant against oxidative/inflammatory-related disorders in the gastrointestinal tract. We also discussed the safe and recommended dose of PEITC. In addition, we established a framework to guide the research and development of sustainable methodologies for obtaining and stabilizing this natural molecule for industrial use. With PEITC, there is great potential to develop a viable strategy for preventing cancer and other associated diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. However, this topic still needs more scientific studies to help develop new PEITC products for the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, or food industries.

Phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a chemopreventive compound, is highly reactive due to its considerably electrophilic nature. Furthermore, it is hydrophobic and has low stability, bioavailability and bioaccessibility. This restricts its use in biomedical and nutraceutical or food applications. Thus, the encapsulation of this agent has the function of overcoming these limitations, promoting its solubility in water, and stabilizing it, preserving its bioactivity. So, polymeric microparticles were developed using chitosan-olive oil-PEITC systems. For this, an optimisation process (factors: olive oil: chitosan ratio and PEITC: chitosan ratio) was implemented through a 3-level factorial experimental design. The responses were: the particle size, zeta-potential, polydisperse index, and entrapment efficiency. The optimal formulation was further characterised by FTIR and biocompatibility in Caco-2 cells. Optimal conditions were olive oil: chitosan and PEITC: chitosan ratios of 1.46 and 0.25, respectively. These microparticles had a size of 629 nm, a zeta-potential of 32.3 mV, a polydispersity index of 0.329, and entrapment efficiency of 98.49%. We found that the inclusion process affected the optical behaviour of the PEITC, as well as the microparticles themselves and their interaction with the medium. Furthermore, the microparticles did not show cytotoxicity within the therapeutic values of PEITC. Thus, PEITC was microencapsulated with characteristics suitable for potential biomedical, nutraceutical and food applications.

Edible mushrooms have been classified as “next-generation food” due to their high nutritional value coupled with their biological and functional potential. The most extensively studied and reported mushroom macromolecules are polysaccharides. However, macrofungi proteins and peptides are also a representative and significant bioactive group. Several factors such as species, substrate composition and harvest time significantly impact the mushroom protein content, typically ranging between 19 and 35% on a dry weight basis. Proteins work based on their shape and structure. Numerous extraction methods, including chemical and non-conventional, and their implications on protein yield and stability will be discussed. Beyond their biological potential, a great advantage of mushroom proteins is their uniqueness, as they often differ from animal, vegetable, and microbial proteins. According to recently published reports, the most relevant mushroom bioactive proteins and peptides include lectins, fungal immunomodulatory proteins, ubiquitin-like proteins, and proteins possessing enzymatic activity such as ribonucleases laccases, and other enzymes and ergothioneine. These are reported as antioxidant, antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, antihypertensive, immunomodulatory, antitumour, antihypercholesterolemic or antihyperlipidemic, antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory properties, which improved proteins and peptides research interest and contributed to the increase of mushroom market value. This review provides an overview of the most relevant biochemical and biological properties of the main protein groups in edible mushrooms, explicitly focusing on their biomedical potential. Although mushrooms are a rich source of various proteins, many of these molecules have yet to be identified and characterised. Accordingly, it is crucial to identify and characterise new macromolecules of macrofungi origin, which opens an opportunity for further investigation to identify new bioactives for food, nutraceutical, or medicinal applications.

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