Roberto Arredondo-Valdés

Background: Plant extracts have emerged as eco‐friendly alternatives to synthetic pesticides, acting as bioinsecticides, biobactericides, or biofungicides. Results: This study evaluated the antifungal activity of nine plant extracts: Croton lechleri , Flourensia cernua , Viscum album , Equisetum arvense , Allium sativum , and Eucalyptus globulus (ethanolic extracts), as well as aqueous extracts of Flourensia cernua , Equisetum arvense , and Fouquieria splendens , all applied at a low concentration (1:300 v/v in PDA). Radial growth inhibition was tested for four phytopathogenic fungi: Botrytis cinerea , Penicillium expansum , Fusarium sp., and Pestalotiopsis sp. The aqueous extract of Equisetum arvense displayed the strongest inhibition, being active against all four strains, with up to 85.8% inhibition against Fusarium sp. HPLC‐MS analysis revealed a diverse array of bioactive compounds, including flavonols and hydroxycinnamic acids, many of which have been reported to exhibit antifungal activity. After 6 months of storage, the extract lost its inhibitory activity, which correlated with the degradation of key metabolites. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a low‐dose aqueous extract of E. arvens e with strong broad‐spectrum antifungal activity. Conclusions: These findings support its potential as a basis for developing biopesticides for postharvest protection and highlight the importance of stability studies and formulation strategies for commercial application.

Chronic wounds are complex environments marked by persistent inflammation, oxidative stress, hypoxia, and conditions that favor antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Conventional antibiotics often fail due to bacterial persistence and the physicochemical barriers of the wound milieu. Biofilm-associated extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), efflux pump activity, quorum sensing (QS), and horizontal gene transfer (HGT) collectively drive antimicrobial tolerance and resistance dissemination, turning chronic wounds into reservoirs of multidrug-resistant pathogens. Consequently, emerging wound therapies demand multifunctional strategies that modulate the wound microenvironment while interfering with resistance-associated phenotypes. Hydrogel–metal–organic framework (MOF) composites have been explored as multifunctional interfaces that combine extracellular matrix-mimetic properties, tunable porosity, stimuli-responsiveness, and controlled therapeutic delivery with the bioactive functions of MOFs. Depending on their composition and architecture, these systems may exert antimicrobial and antibiofilm effects through ionic, electrostatic, osmotic, catalytic, and oxidative mechanisms, while also influencing ROS levels, inflammation, angiogenesis, and local drug transport. However, antimicrobial activity alone does not equate to resistance modulation. Evidence for direct effects on efflux systems, resistance phenotypes, or HGT remains inconsistent across reported platforms. This review critically examines representative hydrogel–MOF systems for chronic wound applications, comparing their composition, physicochemical properties, biological functions, proposed resistance-related mechanisms, advantages, limitations, and current level of evidence. We emphasize distinguishing experimentally demonstrated resistance-modulating effects from mechanistically proposed functions, and identifying design trade-offs and evidence gaps that must be addressed to develop wound interfaces capable of both supporting tissue regeneration and improving infection control.

Chronic wounds constitute a major clinical and socioeconomic burden owing to prolonged inflammation, persistent bacterial infection, impaired angiogenesis, and defective extracellular matrix remodeling. Advanced wound dressings have traditionally been developed to promote tissue regeneration, control bacterial infection, and restore the wound microenvironment. Recent advances have focused on multifunctional biomaterials integrating regenerative, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and controlled drug-delivery properties. Within this context, antiviral biointerface engineering has emerged as a promising, although still exploratory, materials-engineering perspective rather than an established function of wound dressings. Hydrogel–metal–organic framework (MOF) hybrid polymer composites have emerged as versatile platforms for multifunctional wound dressings. Hydrogels provide hydrated three-dimensional matrices with tunable porosity, swelling behavior, mechanical compliance, and biocompatibility, whereas MOFs contribute high surface area, adjustable pore architectures, chemically tailorable active sites, and controlled ion release. Their integration generates synergistic systems whose performance is governed by structure–function relationships involving polymer crosslinking density, MOF dispersion, pore hierarchy, interfacial adhesion, swelling dynamics, and surface functionalization. Collectively, these parameters regulate mass transport, mechanical stability, therapeutic delivery, and cytocompatibility while potentially influencing virus–material interactions through engineered biointerfaces. Current evidence indicates that direct experimental demonstrations of antiviral performance in hydrogel–MOF wound dressing systems remain limited. Accordingly, antiviral biointerface functions should be regarded as emerging engineering opportunities requiring further experimental validation before clinical translation. This review critically analyzes the structure–function engineering principles governing hydrogel–MOF hybrid systems and examines how established regenerative functions may be integrated with emerging antiviral biointerface concepts. Unlike previous reviews focused primarily on drug delivery, antibacterial activity, or tissue engineering, this review emphasizes the relationships between polymer architecture, MOF chemistry, interfacial design, and transport phenomena while explicitly distinguishing experimentally supported evidence from prospective mechanistic concepts. Particular attention is given to current limitations, translational challenges, and future directions for the rational design of next-generation multifunctional hydrogel–MOF wound dressings.

The use of chemical fertilizers has led to significant environmental pollution. An alternative to these fertilizers is the use of natural compounds, such as phytohormones, which promote germination and crop development. However, environmental factors can affect natural compounds, reducing their effectiveness. Therefore, increasing their stability without decreasing their activity to improve crop quality is essential. This study produced and characterized chitosan and sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) nano-microparticles (NMP) loaded with Bacillus subtilis extract and evaluated their impact on tomato seed germination. We employed two experimental designs (Box–Behnken and Box–Hunter–Hunter) to determine the optimal production conditions and characterized the NMP using DLS, SEM, and FTIR. The optimal treatment consisted of 8 min of homogenization, followed by 8 min of ultrasound at a 70% amplitude, resulting in a particle size of 330.7 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.25, a zeta potential of 34.3 mV, and an encapsulation efficiency of 68.8%. The NMP loaded with bacterial extract was applied to tomato seeds as a 50% dilution pretreatment. NMP achieved the best results, with a 72% germination rate (1.6 seeds per day) and an average germination time of 3.8 days. It is concluded that the experimental designs helped improve particle properties and that the chitosan and TPP coating enhances the stability and activity of the bacterial extract, potentially benefiting agronomic applications.

This research objective was to characterize Euphorbia antisyphilitica, Helianthus annuus and Thymus vulgaris extracts, and to determine their antifungal activity against Macrophomina phaseolina. Additionally, the capacity of filtrates from a Bacillus subtilis (FBS) strain against the same pathogen was evaluated. Phytochemical characterization was performedusing HPLC-MS, while the antifungal activity of the extracts was determined through poisoned medium assays at concentrations ranging from 1 to 80 %. From these results, the inhibitory concentrations at 50 % and 90 % (IC50 and IC90) were obtained. Subsequently, the Detached Leaf Assay (DLA) was used to evaluate the antifungal activity of the extracts and FBS IC90 through the Area Under the Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC). Phenolic compounds from various chemical families were identified. Regarding the antifungal activity, 100 % inhibition was observed using H. annuus and T. vulgarisat a concentration of 20 %. In the DLA assay, FBS and the T. vulgaris and H. annuus extracts were highly effective, limiting the growth of M. phaseolina to 7.14 %, 12.57 %, and 13.86 %, respectively. The results demonstrate that plant extracts and FBS effectively control M. phaseolina.

Los herbicidas químicos para control de malezas, representa un problema en la actualidad, ya que su uso indiscriminado causa la aparición de poblaciones resistente de malezas, además de afectar el medio ambiente y la salud humana. Por lo que los metabolitos secundarios de microrganismos (MSMs) y los extractos vegetales (EVs) en formulaciones micro-nano encapsulados (NPs) surgen como una posible alternativa al uso de herbicidas de síntesis química, razón por la cual dilucidar su mecanismo de acción es necesario para entender los cambios bioquímicos que estos inducen en las plantas, para poder desarrollar estrategias de control de malezas. El objetivo de la investigación fue determinar la actividad de las enzimas antioxidantes fenilalanina amonio liasa (PAL), peroxidasa (POD) y super oxido dismutasa (SOD) en plantas de Sorghum bicolor, tratadas con metabolitos secundarios de Alternaria sp. (MSAs) y un extracto vegetal de Solanum rostratum (EVSR) solos y formulados en NPs a base de los biopolímeros alginato y quitosan. El estudio se realizó durante el mes de junio del año 2024, para esto se utilizaron plantas de S. bicolor y se determinó la actividad de las enzimas durante 0, 3, 6, 12, 24 y 48 h. Se pudo observar que los NPs cargados con el EVSR y los MSAs fueron los que indujeron mayor actividad enzimática a distintos tiempos, alcanzando 0.36 y 0.34 U mol-1 respectivamente en el caso de PAL, 4.7 y 4.3 U mol-1 con la enzima POD, y 7.3 y 6.5 U mol-1 con SOD. Se concluye que los MSAs y el EVSR formulados en NPS tiene potencial como agentes que pueden modificar los procesos bioquímicos en plantas.