Mirza Saima Shahzad, Akbar Sidra, Ijaz Muhammad Umar, Morowvat Mohammad Hossein, Ishaque Ayesha, Fatima Kalsoom
Microbial Bioengineering Laboratory, University of Education, Bank Road Campus, Lahore, Pakistan.
Institute of Microbiology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Recent Pat Biotechnol. 2025;19(1):19-34. doi: 10.2174/0118722083287672240321081428.
The marine environment is one of the major biomass producers of algae and seaweed; it is rich in functional ingredients or active metabolites with valuable nutritional health effects. Algal metabolites derived from the cultivation of both microalgae and macroalgae may positively impact human health, offering physiological, pharmaceutical and nutritional benefits. Microalgae have been widely used as novel sources of bioactive substances. Bioactive polymers extracted from algae, such as algal fucans, Galatians, alginates phenolics, carotenoids, vitamin B12, and peptides possess antioxidant, anticoagulant, antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergy, anticancer, and hypocholesterolemic properties. It emphasizes that using marine-derived compounds with bioactive properties as functional food ingredients may help promote human health and prevent chronic diseases. Utilizing bioactive compounds has demonstrated notable advantages in terms of effectiveness more than conventional treatments and therapies currently in use which is also proven from different patents about algal applications in different fields. Despite the availability of numerous microalgae-derived products catering to human health and nutrition in the market, there remains a lack of social acceptance and awareness regarding the health benefits of microalgae. Hence, this review aims to offer a comprehensive account of the current knowledge on anticancers, antioxidants, commercially available edible algal products and therapeutics isolated from algae.
海洋环境是藻类和海藻的主要生物质生产者之一；它富含具有宝贵营养健康功效的功能成分或活性代谢物。来自微藻和大型海藻养殖的藻类代谢物可能对人类健康产生积极影响，具有生理、制药和营养益处。微藻已被广泛用作生物活性物质的新来源。从藻类中提取的生物活性聚合物，如藻类岩藻聚糖、加拉太聚糖、藻酸盐酚类、类胡萝卜素、维生素B12和肽，具有抗氧化、抗凝血、抗菌、抗病毒、抗炎、抗过敏、抗癌和降胆固醇特性。它强调，将具有生物活性特性的海洋衍生化合物用作功能性食品成分可能有助于促进人类健康和预防慢性病。与目前使用的传统治疗方法相比，利用生物活性化合物在有效性方面已显示出显著优势，这也从不同领域藻类应用的不同专利中得到证明。尽管市场上有众多迎合人类健康和营养的微藻衍生产品，但社会对微藻的健康益处仍缺乏接受度和认知。因此，本综述旨在全面介绍目前关于从藻类中分离出的抗癌、抗氧化剂、市售可食用藻类产品和治疗方法的知识。
