RESUMEN
The global market of food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products requires continuous tracking of harmful ingredients and microbial contamination for the sake of the safety of both products and consumers as these products greatly dominate the consumer's health, directly or indirectly. The existence, survival, and growth of microorganisms in the product may lead to physicochemical degradation or spoilage and may infect the consumer at another end. It has become a challenge for industries to produce a product that is safe, self-stable, and has high nutritional value, as many factors such as physical, chemical, enzymatic, or microbial activities are responsible for causing spoilage to the product within the due course of time. Thus, preservatives are added to retain the virtue of the product to ensure its safety for the consumer. Nowadays, the use of synthetic/artificial preservatives has become common and has not been widely accepted by consumers as they are aware of the fact that exposure to preservatives can lead to adverse effects on health, which is a major area of concern for researchers. Naturally occurring phenolic compounds appear to be extensively used as bio-preservatives to prolong the shelf life of the finished product. Based on the convincing shreds of evidence reported in the literature, it is suggested that phenolic compounds and their derivatives have massive potential to be investigated for the development of new moieties and are proven to be promising drug molecules. The objective of this article is to provide an overview of the significant role of phenolic compounds and their derivatives in the preservation of perishable products from microbial attack due to their exclusive antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties and the problems associated with the use of synthetic preservatives in pharmaceutical products. This article also analyzes the recent trends in preservation along with technical norms that regulate the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products in the developing countries.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Medicinal uses of natural phenolic acids and their synthetic derivatives have been augmented in recent years. Phenolic acids are chemically defined secondary plant metabolites and being moieties or leads are much versatile in nature with a wide scope of biological activities which seek the attention of researchers across the world to synthesize different derivatives of phenolic acids and screen them for their various biological properties. These compounds are of meticulous interest due to the properties they possess and their occurrence. Based on the convincing evidence reported in the literature, it is suggested that phenolic acids and their derivatives are promising molecules as a drug. OBJECTIVES: The present review article aims to bring together the information on the biosynthesis, metabolism, and sources of phenolic acids and emphasize the therapeutic potential of phenolic acid and its synthetic derivatives to comprehensively portray the current scenery for researchers interested in designing drugs for furthering this study. CONCLUSION: Phenolic acids being moieties or lead, are much versatile in nature as they possess a wide range of biological activities like antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiviral, antiulcer, antiinflammatory, antidiabetic, anticancer and many more offers researchers to explore more about these or many untapped benefits in the medicinal field. The information mentioned in this article will be helpful to the forthcoming researchers working in this area. Phenolic acids have massive potential to be investigated for novel medicinal possibilities and for the development of new chemical moieties to treat different diseases of clinical importance.