Chapter 5 - Antioxidant potential of bioactive molecules from marine algae in chronic diseases: a critical review of antioxidants from Indian waters

Abstract

The growing population, unbridled industrial expansion, and urbanization leading to unprecedented outcomes of climate change have diverted human attention toward exploitation of the ocean, which covers nearly 71% of the earth’s surface. A huge portion of the ocean offers untapped resources for potential drugs with promising biological activities due to colossal diverse marine habitats and environmental conditions (nutrient availability, sunlight presence, and salinity levels). Although the “silent world” has much richer biodiversity than that of terrestrial areas, efforts to exploit this biodiversity by identifying new chemical compounds have only recently begun. Seaweeds have a distinct evolution in biosynthetic pathways that frequently yield complex molecules with no counterparts in the terrestrial environment. Most red, brown, and green algae species have been utilized on an industrial scale for more than a century, which indicates that the novel compounds from marine algae are more suitable as potential nutraceutical and pharmaceutical agents. Oxidative stress, a well-recognized pathological event, plays an essential role in several human diseases, owing to impaired balance between free radical production and antioxidant capacity, resulting in the accumulation of oxidative products. In comparison to the terrestrial functional foods, seaweeds have been identified as potential antioxidants and have been studied for their free radical–scavenging activities. This chapter outlines the antioxidant potential of marine macroalgae, focusing their role on oxidative stress involved in the progression of chronic diseases through active multidisciplinary research in phytochemistry, pharmacology, and biotechnology. More specifically, the marine algae of the Indian waters are discussed. India has a coastline of about 7517km and is among the 12 megabiodiversity countries and 25 hot spots of the richest and most highly endangered ecoregions of the world. A note on the challenges in the biomedical exploitation of marine algae as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals is also provided herein.