Medicinal prospective of seaweed resources in India: A review

Abstract

The marine ecosystems are the integral part of biodiversity and support the wide range of marine phytodiversity, consisting of marine algae, seagrasses and mangroves. The marine macro algae are popularly known as ‘seaweeds’. Presently, c.11,000 taxa of seaweeds are reported globally and c. 221 taxa have been recognized as economically important in various forms like food, fodder and in various biochemical and pharmaceutical industries. Seaweeds contain many bioactive compounds such as proteins, peptides, fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, Caulerpenyne, Sulfated polysachharides, domoic acid, kainik acid etc. which have high therapeutic potential in various forms, such as antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancerous, anticoagulants, anti-inflammatory etc. The present paper deals with the medicinal potentiality of 39 taxa of seaweeds, belonging to 20 taxa of Chlorophyceae, 4 taxa of Phaeophyceae and 15 taxa of Rhodophyceae.