Exploring the Potential Bioactive Properties of Marine Natural Products

Abstract

Background: The marine world is highly diversified and is of great importance for its sustainable utilization as resources for human life. Although marine resource economy has its own share in the international market, there is only a handful of research occurring, the probability of not being completely explored. It has now become virtually possible to characterize the metabolites by bioanalytical techniques and molecular biology methodology. The marine biomes harbour largely diatoms, bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, and cyanobacteria that are harnessed for their rich structurally diverse secondary metabolites. Recently, sponges and algae have gained commercial importance. Focuses are now shifting towards ascomycota, actinobacteria, cyanobacteria and other classes due to the advanced technology in extraction of the active components from these phyla and deeper exploration of the oceans. Method: A vast report on marine natural products have been regularly updated and published which clearly indicates the immense research undertaken in ocean flora and fauna. Herein we focus on providing information on the potential uses of marine natural products as bioactive agents in the last five years. The data were collected from research and review articles from peer-reviewed journals. Results: A total of 128 articles are citied in the present review covering broad spectrum of marine organism and their importance in the field of medical biology. Information on source organisms, collection sites, was assembled and a total of 120 biologically important compounds are described here. Conclusion: The present study provides information to bioprospecting efforts in the field of marine science. Herein, I have emphasized diverse biological activities isolated from marine microbes to invertebrate against many pathogenic microorganisms and cancer, thus making marine-derived natural products valuable commodities. Future prospects for the discovery of new marine products and process development could add to the economic importance.