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Plant Extracts and Fruit Fibers Show Health Benefits

Science and Technology

Business Honor
31 March, 2025

Brazil and Germany research explores plant extracts and fruit fibers for disease prevention and treatment.

Researchers from Brazil and Germany this year shows the promise of fruit fibers and plant extracts in fighting disease and enhancing human well-being. Fruits and medicinal plants, increasingly used for their therapeutic values, are the subject of new research findings presented by researchers during FAPESP Week Germany at Free University of Berlin.

Ulrich Dobrindt, a professor of microbiology at the University of Munich, stressed the importance of medicinal plants in combating bacterial infections, especially urinary tract infections (UTIs), which are one of the most prevalent bacterial infections globally. Plant extracts, with phytochemicals such as flavonoids, alkaloids, and terpenoids, have been reported to enhance the immune response of the body. While some of these compounds are known to possess antibacterial activity, their mechanisms are yet to be researched.

Together with the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil, German researchers have established infection models to examine how extracts from plants affect the innate immune response and regulation of gene expression. They discovered that aqueous plant extracts from plants like Solidago gigantea and Equiseti herba markedly diminished the adhesion and survival of Escherichia coli in human bladder cells and hold promise for the treatment of future UTIs.

In Brazil, scientists at the Food Research Center (FoRC) are concerned with the biological activity of non-digestible water-soluble polysaccharides like pectins in fruits like papaya, passion fruit, and citrus. These compounds are linked with lower chronic diseases. However, rapid ripening of fruits such as papaya makes it difficult in the recovery of intact pectin. In order to get around this, Brazilian scientists have developed methods of extracting and chemically modifying fruit residue pectins, such as orange albedo, which increase their biologically active state.

These findings may pave the way for new drug applications, including the development of supplements to accompany chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer and promote gastrointestinal health.