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The study of secondary metabolism in plants is an important source for the discovery of bioactive compounds with a wide range of applications. Today these bioactive compounds derived from plants are important drugs such as antibiotics, and agrochemicals substitutes, they also have been economically important as fl avors and fragrances, dyes and pigments, and food preservatives. Many of the drugs sold today are synthetic modifi cations of naturally obtained substances. There is no rigid scheme for classifying secondary metabolites, but they can be divided into different groups based on their chemical components, function and biosynthesis: terpenoids and steroids, fatty acid-derived substances and polyketides, alkaloids, phenolic compounds, non-ribosomal polypeptides and enzyme cofactors. The increasing commercial importance of these chemical compounds has resulted in a great interest in secondary metabolism, particularly the possibility of altering the production of bioactive plant metabolites by means of tissue culture technology and metabolomics. In today's world the use of bioactive compounds derived from plants plays an important role in pharmaceutical applications. This review presents information about these metabolites and their applications as well as their importance in agronomy and bioactive effects on human health as nutraceuticals. This review includes also the new tendencies to produce these bioactive compounds under different stresses conditions such as biotic and abiotic stress that could be included in production systems.

Mexican spices are used in the supplementation of the human diet and as medicinal herbs for the particularly high amounts of compounds capable of deactivating free radicals. In addition, these spices can have beneficial effects on chronic, no-transmissible diseases such as type II diabetes and hypertension arterial. The objective of this study is to determine the content of phenolic compounds on the antioxidant activity and inhibitory enzymes of α-amylase, α-glucosidase and angiotensin-converting enzyme in melissa, peppermint, thyme and mint, which are subjected to microwave drying, conventional and freeze-drying to be used as alternative treatments. Spices were evaluated to determine total phenols, flavonoids, tannins, 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), (2,2′-azino-bis- (3-ethyl benzothiazolin-6-ammonium sulphonate) (ABTS) and Ferric Reducing/Antioxidant Power (FRAP), enzymatic activity. The investigation showed that conventional drying caused a decrease in antioxidant properties and inhibitory activity, in some species, while remained preserved in microwave drying and freeze-drying. The activity of polyphenol oxides and peroxidase decreases with high temperatures and these increase with the use of cold temperatures. This study aims to determine the extent of optimal drying required to preserve phenolic compounds, and the positive effect on antioxidant activity and enzymatic activity in in vitro models, which will produce benefits for the infusion processing industry and the pharmaceutical industry.

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