Bioactive potential and possible health effects of edible brown seaweeds

Abstract

Marine macroalgae (seaweeds) are rich in bioactive compounds that could potentially be exploited as functional ingredients for both human and animal health applications. Despite the intensive efforts that are being made to isolate and identify new compounds with potential medicinal, health or pharmaceutical activities, very few compounds with real potency are available. Bioactive compounds that are most extensively researched include sulfated polysaccharides, phlorotannins and diterpenes. These compounds have been reported to possess strong anti-viral, anti-tumor and anti-cancer properties. At the same time, the prebiotic health potential of the polysaccharides from seaweeds is also increasingly being studied either by feeding whole seaweeds or purified polysaccharides to laboratory and farm animals. The present review discusses the pharmaceutical, health and research potential of different bioactive compounds present in brown seaweeds.

Macroalgae of Izmir Gulf: Dictyotaceae exhibit high in vitro anti-cancer activity independent from their antioxidant capabilities

“…Macroalgae are prolific sources for numerous natural compounds with promising potential for both prevention (Lee et al 2013) and treatment of several diseases including cancer (Hiroishi et al 2001;RademakerLakhai et al 2005) and diabetes (Nwosu et al 2011). Many studies have attributed beneficial effects of macroalgae to their high antioxidant capacity (Zhang et al 2007;Zubia et al 2009;Murugan and Iyer 2013) thus naming their consumption ''antioxidant phytomedicine'' (Scalbert et al 2005;Yuan and Walsh 2006;Gupta and Abu-Ghannam 2011;Nwosu et al 2011). Dietary antioxidant intake and decreased oxidative stress are known to reduce the risk of type II diabetes (Valko et al 2004) and cancer (Montonen et al 2004) as both conditions are associated with oxidative stress.…”

Controlling of Microbial Growth by Using Cystoseira barbata Extract

“…The inhibition activity for the ethanolic extract of Cystoseira barbata may be attributed to the presence of three flavonoid compounds, namely: acacetin, rosmarinic and Kaemp.3-(2-p-comaroyl) glucose or to the presence of the phenolic E-Vanillic or to the presence of the free saccharides glucose and mannitol which recorded high level in the alga -Ghannam, 2011). In this study, the active compound presented in crude extracts might be interacting synergistically for bacterial inhibition.…”

KARAKTERISTIK NORI DARI CAMPURAN RUMPUT LAUT Ulva lactuca DAN Eucheuma cottonii

“…Selain itu, komponen bioaktif lain yang terkandung dalam rum put l aut sebagai bahan baku nori j uga mempengaruhi aktivitas antioksidan produk nori. Rumput laut mengandung sejumlah komponen bioaktif yang mempunyai aktivitas antioksidan (Gupta & Ghannam, 2011;Pangestuti & Kim, 2011). Stabilitas antioksidan juga dipengaruhi oleh suhu.…”