Brown and Red Marine Macroalgae as Novel Bioresources of Promising Medicinal Properties

ABSTRACT

Bioactive compounds from marine macroalgae are gaining immense attention for their application as natural ingredients in various nutraceuticals and food supplements. The present study evaluated the medicinal properties of the organic extracts of four each of brown and red marine macroalgal species, using various in vitro assays. Organic extracts of brown algae of Fucophycidan subclass, such as Sargassum plagiophyllum, Turbinaria decurrens, and red alga Hydropuntia edulis, displayed potential inhibitory properties against antioxidants (IC₅₀ 0.2–0.8 mg/mL) and carbolytic enzymes (IC₅₀ 0.2–0.9 mg/mL) compared to those exhibited by other studied algae. Noticeably, organic extracts of red alga H. edulis and brown alga T. decurrens could effectively attenuate pro-inflammatory 5-lipoxygenase (IC₅₀ 0.4–0.6 mg/mL), thereby demonstrating their potential application to dissuade inflammatory pathogenesis. This study demonstrated the predominantly available brown and red macroalgae as potential marine bioresources to develop functional food candidates.

KEYWORDS:

• Marine macroalgae
• medicinal properties
• carbolytic enzyme inhibition
• pro-inflammatory 5-lipoxygenase
• spectroscopic fingerprint

Funding

This work was supported by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Director, Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (ICAR-CMFRI), and Head, Marine Biotechnology Division, ICAR-CMFRI for facilitating the research. The authors are thankful to the Head, Department of Applied Chemistry, Cochin University of Science and Technology (Kerala State, India) for providing with guidance and necessary support. A.T. expresses sincere thanks to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research for financial support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).