{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T21:08:03Z","timestamp":1775164083696,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,30]],"date-time":"2022-05-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1653868800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Regione Basilicata","award":["C31G18000210002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C31G18000210002"]}]},{"name":"Regione Basilicata","award":["C39J20001740002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C39J20001740002"]}]},{"name":"Regione Basilicata","award":["F\/200099\/01-03\/X45"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F\/200099\/01-03\/X45"]}]},{"name":"FESR Basilicata","award":["C31G18000210002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C31G18000210002"]}]},{"name":"FESR Basilicata","award":["C39J20001740002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C39J20001740002"]}]},{"name":"FESR Basilicata","award":["F\/200099\/01-03\/X45"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F\/200099\/01-03\/X45"]}]},{"name":"Italian Ministry of the Economic Development","award":["C31G18000210002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C31G18000210002"]}]},{"name":"Italian Ministry of the Economic Development","award":["C39J20001740002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["C39J20001740002"]}]},{"name":"Italian Ministry of the Economic Development","award":["F\/200099\/01-03\/X45"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F\/200099\/01-03\/X45"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceutics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Food extract\u2019s biological effect and its improvement using nanotechnologies is one of the challenges of the last and the future decades; for this reason, the antioxidant effect of scarlet eggplant extract liposomal incorporation was investigated. Scarlet eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L.) is a member of the Solanaceae family, and it is one of the most consumed vegetables in tropical Africa and south of Italy. This study investigated the antioxidant activity and the phytochemical composition of S. aethiopicum grown in the Basilicata Region for the first time. The whole fruit, peel, and pulp were subjected to ethanolic exhaustive maceration extraction, and all extracts were investigated. The HPLC-DAD analysis revealed the presence of ten phenolic compounds, including hydroxycinnamic acids, flavanones, flavanols, and four carotenoids (one xanthophyll and three carotenes). The peel extract was the most promising, active, and the richest in specialized metabolites; hence, it was tested on HepG2 cell lines and incorporated into liposomes. The nanoincorporation enhanced the peel extract\u2019s antioxidant activity, resulting in a reduction of the concentration used. Furthermore, the extract improved the expression of endogenous antioxidants, such as ABCG2, CAT, and NQO1, presumably through the Nrf2 pathway.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pharmaceutics14061168","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,31]],"date-time":"2022-05-31T00:25:12Z","timestamp":1653956712000},"page":"1168","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["New Insight on the Bioactivity of Solanum aethiopicum Linn. Growing in Basilicata Region (Italy): Phytochemical Characterization, Liposomal Incorporation, and Antioxidant Effects"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5274-8633","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Immacolata","family":"Faraone","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science, University of Basilicata, Viale Dell\u2019ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy"},{"name":"Spinoff BioActiPlant s.r.l., Viale Dell\u2019ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7011-7288","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ludovica","family":"Lela","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science, University of Basilicata, Viale Dell\u2019ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2145-0284","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Ponticelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science, University of Basilicata, Viale Dell\u2019ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"given":"Domenico","family":"Gorgoglione","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EVRA S.r.l., Localit\u00e0 Galdo, 85044 Lauria, PZ, Italy"}]},{"given":"Filomena","family":"De Biasio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EVRA S.r.l., Localit\u00e0 Galdo, 85044 Lauria, PZ, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0740-4396","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patricia","family":"Valent\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"REQUIMTE\/LAQV, Laborat\u00f3rio de Farmacognosia, Departamento de Qu\u00edmica, Faculdade de Farm\u00e1cia, Universidade do Porto, R. Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, n\u00b0 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9764-3920","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paula B.","family":"Andrade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"REQUIMTE\/LAQV, Laborat\u00f3rio de Farmacognosia, Departamento de Qu\u00edmica, Faculdade de Farm\u00e1cia, Universidade do Porto, R. Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, n\u00b0 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7937-3309","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Vassallo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science, University of Basilicata, Viale Dell\u2019ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy"},{"name":"Spinoff TNcKILLERS s.r.l., Viale dell\u2019Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"given":"Carla","family":"Caddeo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of \u201cScienze Della Vita e Dell\u2019ambiente, Sezione di Scienze del Farmaco\u201d, University of Cagliari, Via Ospedale 72, 09124 Cagliari, Italy"}]},{"given":"Roberto","family":"Falabella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Urology Unit, San Carlo Hospital, Via Potito Petrone, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5970-5097","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angela","family":"Ostuni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science, University of Basilicata, Viale Dell\u2019ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy"},{"name":"Spinoff BioActiPlant s.r.l., Viale Dell\u2019ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5874-1237","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luigi","family":"Milella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science, University of Basilicata, Viale Dell\u2019ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Munteanu, I.G., and Apetrei, C. 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