Work

Overview on Biological Activities and Molecular Characteristics of Sulfated Polysaccharides from Marine Green Algae in Recent Years

Year: 2014

Type: review

Abstract: Among the three main divisions of marine macroalgae (Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta), marine green algae are valuable sources of structurally diverse bioactive compounds and remain largely unexploited in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical areas. Recently, a great deal of interest has been developed to isolate novel sulfated polysaccharides (SPs) from marine green algae because of their numerous health beneficial effects. Green seaweeds are known to synthesize large quantities of SPs and are well established sources of these particularly interesting molecules such as ulvans from Ulva and Enteromorpha, sulfated rhamnans from Monostroma, sulfated arabinogalactans from Codium, sulfated galacotans from Caulerpa, and some special sulfated mannans from different species. These SPs exhibit many beneficial biological activities such as anticoagulant, antiviral, antioxidative, antitumor, immunomodulating, antihyperlipidemic and antihepatotoxic activities. Therefore, marine algae derived SPs have great potential for further development as healthy food and medical products. The present review focuses on SPs derived from marine green algae and presents an overview of the recent progress of determinations of their structural types and biological activities, especially their potential health benefits.

Source: Marine Drugs

DOI: 10.3390/md12094984

Authors: Lingchong Wang, Xiangyu Wang, Hao Wu, Rui Liu

Institutions: Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Marine Biology Institute of Shandong Province

Language: English

Topic: Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds

Subfield: Aquatic Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDGs: Life below water, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,499