An Overview of Indian Marine Seaweeds and Their Medicinal Applications

Abstract

Background Seaweeds are macroalgae containing bioactive compounds that have positively impacted the biomedical field due to polysaccharides, sterols and glycolipids, showing a diverse range of pharmacological and biological properties. Eating a diet high in marine items will lessen the risk of developing diabetes, cancer and obesity. Purpose The exploration of medically useful seaweeds is required to identify drugs and drug targets and reduce the risk of developing diseases. Methods The PubMed search was done with the MESH terms such as seaweed and Marine algae pharmacological activity results were obtained as 748 results. We filtered out the articles and entered key terms related to our area of interest to find the results. The seaweed species in India are listed with Tamil Nadu contributing the most and Orissa the least. The type of algae is also mentioned. Results Marine algae have been employed in industry and medicine as a novel food with possible nutritional benefits. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that marine algae are a rich source of naturally occurring bioactive substances with activities such as anti-diabetic, hepatoprotective, antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypercholesterolemia and hypolipidemia. Conclusion The current review focuses on the bioactivities and potential pharmaceutical activity of marine algae discovered in India. The present review article showed that there are many seaweeds of medical importance, and it is necessary to explore them to minimize disease progression and prolong the individual’s survival.