Fish-Based Bioactives as Potent Nutraceuticals: Exploring the Therapeutic Perspective of Sustainable Food from the Sea

Abstract

Recent developments in nutraceuticals and functional foods have confirmed that bioactive components present in our diet play a major therapeutic role against human diseases. Moreover, there is a huge emphasis on food scientists for identifying and producing foods with better bioactive activity, which can ultimately provide wellness and well-being to human health. Among the several well-known foods with bioactive constituents, fish has always been considered important, due to its rich nutritional values and by-product application in food industries. Nutritionists, food scientists, and other scientific communities have been working jointly to uncover new bioactive molecules that could increase the potential and therapeutic benefits of these bioactive components. Despite the innumerable benefits of fish and known fish bioactive molecules, its use by food or pharmaceutical industries is scarce, and even research on fish-based nutraceuticals is not promising. Therefore, this review focuses on the current information/data available regarding fish bioactive components, its application as nutraceuticals for therapeutic purposes in the treatment of chronic diseases, ethnic issues related to consumption of fish or its by-products. Especial emphasis is given on the utilization of fish wastes and its by-products to fulfill the world demand for cheap dietary supplements specifically for underdeveloped/least developed countries.

Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus) as a Potential Dietary Medicine with Nutraceutical Importance for Sustainable Health Applications

“…Around two-thirds of the world population (7.8 billion) is dependent on plant-based materials for their medicinal and healing properties, mainly because of their easy availability, accessibility, affordability, and safety, as well as the traditional beliefs of the consumers [ 104 ]. A very old quote by Hippocrates stated, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”, which described the significance of food and its nutritional, as well as therapeutic, values for the prevention, treatment, and management of diseases [ 105 ]. Thereafter, DeFelice coined the term nutraceutical by merging “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical” and defined it as food or part of a food that not only imparts health benefits but, also, contributes to the prevention or treatment of various diseases [ 106 ].…”

Cordycepin for Health and Wellbeing: A Potent Bioactive Metabolite of an Entomopathogenic Medicinal Fungus Cordyceps with Its Nutraceutical and Therapeutic Potential

“…DeFelice was the first to introduce the word "nutraceutical" by coalescing the two words "nutrition" and "pharmaceutical" and define it as "food or a part of food which not only impart health benefits but also contributes in preventing or treating various diseases". Moreover, in broad terms nutraceuticals can be summarized as bioactive components which play a vital role in human beings by maintaining their normal physiological functions and well-being [10,54]. Notably, nutraceuticals have been designed in such a way, that it could be useful for the betterment and maintenance of human health without causing any harm due to their natural occurrence [55,56].…”

“…Currently, it has been observed that a majority of the population from developed as well as developing countries are suffering from chronic diseases, and the underlying causes are believed to be rapid urbanization and changes in eating and lifestyle behavior. Among the various underline causes, eating habits are considered one of the major risk factors for chronic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and many more affecting both wellness and the wellbeing of mankind [9,10]. Therefore, the scientific community is working relentlessly to develop naturally occurring or naturally derived product, such as nutraceuticals, which could help in improving the human health status while not possessing harmful effects.…”

Protective effects of orally administered shark compound peptides from Chiloscyllium plagiosum against acute inflammation

“…Extraction and utilization of protein hydrolysates and peptides from fish by-products have shown numerous health-promoting properties (Syed et al, 2020). In particular, compound peptides extracted from by-products of sharks, including Prionace glauca (Rodriguez-Diaz et al, 2011), Carcharhinus limbatus (Kittiphattanabawon et al, 2012), and Mustelus mustelus (Sayari et al, 2015) have antioxidant activities and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I) activities.…”

“…In addition, modulation of immune function through fish protein hydrolysates and peptides has also been reported to be an effective and efficient strategy in dietary treatment (Chalamaiah et al, 2018). A number of studies have reported the use of fish protein hydrolysates and peptides against acute inflammatory reactions, with the effects mostly occurring at the posttranscriptional stage, similar to the properties of anti-inflammatory drugs (Chalamaiah et al, 2018;Syed et al, 2020).…”