Functional Application of Sulfur-Containing Spice Compounds

Abstract

Sulfur-containing spice compounds possess diverse biological functions and play an important role in food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture. The development of functional spices has become increasingly popular, especially for medicinal functions for dietary health. Thus, this review focuses on the properties and functions of sulfur-containing spice compounds, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiobesity, anticancer, antibacterial, and insecticidal functions, among others. Developments over the last five years concerning the properties of sulfur-containing spice compounds are summarized and discussed.

A Bioactive Chitosan−Based Film Enriched with Benzyl Isothiocyanate/α−Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex and Its Application for Beef Preservation

“…Isothiocyanates (ITCs), one class of plant secondary metabolites generated from glucosinolates hydrolysis, are natural food preservatives in the Generally Recognized as Safe list [ 4 ] and possess versatile physiological properties including antibacterial, anti−inflammatory, and anticancer [ 5 , 6 ]. Among the ITCs, the aromatic sulfur flavor benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) has grabbed plenty of attention because of its superior potential in suppressing a broad spectrum of food−borne bacteria [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Synthesis of novel 2-methyl-3-furyl sulfide flavor derivatives as efficient preservatives

“…Based on the above results, we analyze that the antimicrobial activity of the avor derivatives may be caused by the following reasons. Since thioether is a type of important pharmacophore, 27,28 the 2-methyl-3-furyl sulde motif mainly contribute to the antimicrobial activity of compounds 3a, 3b, 3d, 3e, 3f, 3g, 3h, 3i, 3j, 3k, 3l, 3m, 5a, 5b, and 5f. As amides oen possess certain bioactivity, the amide unit in these compounds (3d, 3e, 3f, 3g, 3h, 3i) may also help to improve the antimicrobial activity.…”

Biocontrol Effect and Possible Mechanism of Food-Borne Sulfide 3-Methylthio-1-Propanol Against Botrytis cinerea in Postharvest Tomato

“…The food-borne sulfur-containing spice compounds are the ideal substitutes for chemical fungicides due to their excellent characteristics of antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial activity ( Schöller et al, 2002 ; Hongman et al, 2018 ; Xie et al, 2020 ). However, the existed studies on sulfur-containing spice compounds are not matched their important roles, it is necessary to explore some new sulfur-containing spice compounds to be chosen.…”

“…Recently, a large number of bioderived antimicrobial agents that were generally regarded as safe were demonstrated to be effective in controlling postharvest pathogens, such as carvacrol ( Pei et al, 2020 ), methyl thujate ( Ma et al, 2020 ), and others. Among them, a kind of sulfur-containing spice compound was noticeable, which was mainly obtained from plants or microorganisms ( Schöller et al, 2002 ; Hongman et al, 2018 ; Xie et al, 2020 ). The study in pear showed that the infection and development of black spots caused by Alternaria alternata were effectively inhibited by benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) fumigation ( Wang, 2020 ).…”