Edible Seaweeds: A Potential Novel Source of Bioactive Metabolites and Nutraceuticals With Human Health Benefits

Abstract

There has been an increase in human health concerns, and seaweeds are considered as a potential functional food which can decrease the risk of many diseases, as they contain various bioactive compounds. Seaweeds are of nutritional interest and a rich source of natural bioactive compounds including antioxidants, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, and alkaloids that can be used as an alternative source of food material. Seaweeds contain a high amount of vitamins such as A, D, E, C, and B, and minerals including calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron. Seaweeds containing carrageenan, agar and other polysaccharides not only act as a source of fiber but also can act as prebiotics which may benefit the bacteria present in the large intestine. The lack of technologies to process seaweeds for human consumption at an industrial scale is a serious limitation on growth of the seaweed-based functional foods sector. Seaweeds are one of the most extensively used functional foods, with a long history in Asian countries. Now they are also being explored by many Western and European countries. Evidence from epidemiological research suggests that regular consumption of a marine algae-based diet may boost immunity against a number of diseases including COVID-19 novel virus by angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition.

Antioxidant, Scavenging, Reducing, and Anti-Proliferative Activities of Selected Tropical Brown Seaweeds Confirm the Nutraceutical Potential of Spatoglossum asperum

“…Phenolic and flavonoid compounds from marine algae are well known for their anti-proliferative activities [3,[53][54][55]. Extracts obtained from S. asperum showed 35% antiproliferation of Huh7 cells and 26% of HeLa cells (Figure 4).…”

Biochemical and Elemental Composition of Pelagic Sargassum Biomass Harvested across the Caribbean

“…The presence of the other vitamins was expected, as these have been previously quantified in brown algae [16]. However, values were low compared to data recently described for other species of Phaeophyceae, in particular for vitamin A, C and E [17]. As indicated between brackets, different units were considered to report quantities of vitamins in the samples investigated.…”

The seaweed holobiont: from microecology to biotechnological applications

“…Seaweeds have become appealing as a source of functional foods with increased evidence of several health‐related seaweed properties, such as antibacterial activity, antioxidant potential, anti‐inflammatory properties, anti‐viral activity and anti‐fungal activity (Admassu et al ., 2015 ). Seaweeds have low caloric and high nutrient contents, are rich in nutrients that cannot be obtained from terrestrial plants and provide health benefits against various diseases (Bjerregaard et al ., 2016 ; Leandro et al ., 2020b ; Pandey et al ., 2020 ; Choudhary et al ., 2021 ). Moreover, seaweeds have a range of applications in food development: they can be used as a stabilizer and emulsifier, and have gelling properties; they are commonly used as ingredients in many foods and for commercial food preparation (Pandey et al ., 2020 ); and they have even been used to provide a source of beneficial bioactive substances in reformulated modified meat products (Cofrades et al ., 2017 ).…”

“…It is also not entirely clear which components are bioavailable; what factors influence how they are released (such as food preparation and genetic differentiation in the gut microbiome) or how they interact with human metabolism or how harvesting, storage and food processing techniques influence their nutritional value (Wells et al ., 2017 ). Furthermore, there is a lack of technologies available that can process seaweeds for human consumption at an industrial scale (Choudhary et al ., 2021 ), which limits the ability to use seaweed to help mitigate global food security issues.…”