Ferulic Acid—A Brief Review of Its Extraction, Bioavailability and Biological Activity

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Recommendation:

Major Revision

Title: Ferulic Acid – a Brief Review of Its Extraction, Bioavailability and Biological Activity

Overview and general recommendation:

The review paper presents the recently available information on the extraction methods for quantifying ferulic acid in different samples, along with its bioactivity, bioavailability and stability in processing foods.  Overall, the topic is interesting. However, I found some of the description of the paper to be not that detailed, while the explanation and description of some of the very important points were missing or lacking. Review comments must be addressed first to accept this manuscript for publication.

 

1)     The introduction repeats some information, such as the presence of FA in various plants and its biological functions, without adding new insights. This can be streamlined to avoid redundancy.

2)     I suggest that the authors highlight in the introduction any gaps in current research about ferulic acid or potential future directions related to this topic.

3)     The review discussed too much experimental details from literature survey without sufficient context or comparison among results to better understand their significance. I suggest that the authors make relevant connection among this information to address research gaps and challenges in FA studies.

4)     I suggest that the authors include a table that will summarize key findings from different literatures about extraction and bioactivity be included in the revised manuscript.

5)     I suggest that the authors divide extraction and enrichment of FA into distinct section of different extraction methods so that it will be more organized and clearer.

6)     The authors should at least properly define important terms such as "bioaccessibility," "bioavailability," and "simulated gastrointestinal digestion" before using them in the discussion so that the readers can improve their comprehension regarding the topic that is being discussed.

7)     The discussion on the influence of food processing on bioavailability of FA lacks a deeper discussion and need further improvement in this section. Summarize the research findings and its implication for the bioavailability of ferulic acid.

8)     In the conclusion, the authors said "lack of recognized negative effects" of ferulic acid, which is not properly discussed and substantiated in the manuscript. I suggest that the authors add references or evidence to support this claim in the bioactivity part of FA.

9)     Please improve Figure 2. I suggest specific details be included in each biological activities included in the Figure.

10) I suggest that the authors include research questions or gaps in the conclusion that emerge from the review paper. This will help future researchers for future investigations in advancing the current knowledge of ferulic acid.

11) In general, the manuscript have grammatical errors and awkward phrasing. Careful proofreading is needed.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

 In general, the manuscript have grammatical errors and awkward phrasing. Careful proofreading is needed.

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript submitted by Krystyna Pyrzynska reviews the importance of Ferulic acid and extraction processes, activity, and bioavailability. The manuscript is well-written and detailed. I have two minor points concerning the content stated below:

1) The authors state, 'Free ferulic acid and its ester forms, can be directly extracted using pressurized hot  water (termed subcritical water extraction, SWE) or aqueous ethanol solution [25,31-33].  Pressurized water at 200o C for 3.5 min extracted 17% of FA-free form ....'. It seems this paragraph is repeated twice.

 

2) The legend of Figure 1 says 'scheme'. I just see a structure but not a scheme. Please rephrase.

 

Otherwise, I recommend the article publication in the journal.

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

In the article “Ferulic Acid – a Brief Review of Its Extraction, Bioavailability and Biological Activity”, the authors provide a summary of extraction, bioavailability, and biological activity of Ferulic Acid. However, in this review manuscript, I have found several errors. Please follow my comments regarding your study below:

 

01. In this introduction portion, the background study about Ferulic Acid and other disease targets is insufficient.

02. The Review Article is totally incomplete. There is no comprehensive analysis.

03. The authors should include a Table to represent the therapeutic potential of Ferulic acid against different diseases.

04. The authors should add some mechanistic figures.

05. Finally, I have a major concern that throughout the manuscript, the content and write-up are not up to date according to the standard of the Journal. Please improve the English Write-up and Grammatical Errors.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Need to improve the write-up of the manuscript. 

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The author revised the manuscript following the suggestions and recommendation of the reviewer. 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The English language of the manuscript requires minor correction and editing. 

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript has been revised as suggested. It can be accepted now.