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In last three decades the discovery of metabolite and biological activities from macroalgae has been increased significantly. Many sophisticated modern research tools are available for making of chemical compound but there are still many natural bioactive compounds in the womb of nature which is a mystery, scientist are still working to find out more biologically active compounds. Bioactive substances from seaweeds currently receive the more attention from the pharmaceutical companies for the drug development as well as the researchers. Seaweeds are taking majority of attention from scientists because of its phenomenon bioactive compounds and its properties like anti-viral, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and anti-lipedimic and may more properties. This current review described mainly substances like metabolite, properties, and types of seaweeds. Emphasis is given to main metabolite and properties of seaweeds.

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BackgroundHydrogen peroxide is continuously generated in living cells through metabolic pathways and serves as a source of reactive oxygen species. Beyond the threshold level, it damages cells and causes several human disorders, including cancer.MethodsEffect of isolated 3-O-methyl quercetin and kaempferol on H2O2 induced cytotoxicity, ROS formation, plasma membrane damage, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, DNA damage was evaluated in normal liver and lung cells. The RT-PCR analysis used to determine Nrf 2 gene expression. Calorimetric ELISA was used to determine Nrf2 and p-38 levels. Expression of SOD and catalase was analyzed by Western blot analysis.ResultsThe present study isolated 3-O-methyl quercetin and kaempferol from the stem bark. They protected normal lung and liver cells from H2O2 induced cytotoxicity, ROS formation, membrane damage and DNA damage. Pre-treatment with 3-O-methyl quercetin and kaempferol caused translocation of Nrf2 from cytosol to nucleus. It also increased expression of p-p38, Nrf2, SOD and catalase in H2O2 treated lung and liver cells.ConclusionThe flavonoids isolated from S. anacardium significantly reduced H2O2 induced stress and increased expression of Nrf2, catalase and superoxide dismutase-2 indicating cytoprotective nature of 3-O-methylquercetin and kaempferol.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12906-016-1354-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Fish-mint (Houttuynia cordataThunb.), belonging to family Saururaceae, has long been used as food and traditional herbal medicine. The present study was framed to assess the changes occurring in the essential-oil composition of H. cordata during annual growth and to evaluate allelopathic, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiacetylcholinesterase activities. The essential-oil content ranged from 0.06 - 0.14% and 0.08 - 0.16% in aerial parts and underground stem, respectively. The essential oils were analysed by GC-FID, GC/MS, and NMR ( H and C). Major constituents of aerial-parts oil was 2-undecanone (19.4 - 56.3%), myrcene (2.6 - 44.3%), ethyl decanoate (0.0 - 10.6%), ethyl dodecanoate (1.1 - 8.6%), 2-tridecanone (0.5 - 8.3%), and decanal (1.1 - 6.9%). However, major constituents of underground-stem oil were 2-undecanone (29.5 - 42.3%), myrcene (14.4 - 20.8%), sabinene (6.0 - 11.1%), 2-tridecanone (1.8 - 10.5%), β-pinene (5.3 - 10.0%), and ethyl dodecanoate (0.8 - 7.3%). Cluster analysis revealed that essential-oil composition varied substantially due to the plant parts and season of collection. The oils exhibited significant allelopathic (inhibition: 77.8 - 88.8%; LD : 2.45 - 3.05 μl/plate), antibacterial (MIC: 0.52 - 2.08 μl/ml; MBC: bacteriostatic) and antifungal (MIC: 2.08 - 33.33 μl/ml; MFC: 4.16 - 33.33 μl/ml) activities. The results indicate that the essential oil from H. cordata has a significant potential to allow future exploration and exploitation as a natural antimicrobial and allelopathic agent.

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Ocimum tenuiflorum is a widely used medicinal plant since ancient times and still continues to be irreplaceable due to its properties. The plant has been explored chemically and pharmacologically, however, the molecular studies have been started lately. In an attempt to get a comprehensive overview of the abiotic stress response in O. tenuiflorum, de novo transcriptome sequencing of plant leaves under the cold, drought, flood and salinity stresses was carried out. A comparative differential gene expression (DGE) study was carried out between the common transcripts in each stress with respect to the control. KEGG pathway analysis and gene ontology (GO) enrichment studies exhibited several modifications in metabolic pathways as the result of four abiotic stresses. Besides this, a comparative metabolite profiling of stress and control samples was performed. Among the cold, drought, flood and salinity stresses, the plant was most susceptible to the cold stress. Severe treatments of all these abiotic stresses also decreased eugenol which is the main secondary metabolite present in the O. tenuiflorum plant. This investigation presents a comprehensive analysis of the abiotic stress effects in O. tenuiflorum. Current study provides an insight to the status of pathway genes’ expression that help synthesizing economically valuable phenylpropanoids and terpenoids related to the adaptation of the plant. This study identified several putative abiotic stress tolerant genes which can be utilized to either breed stress tolerant O. tenuiflorum through pyramiding or generating transgenic plants.

The genes involved in menthol biosynthesis are reported earlier in Mentha × piperita. But the information on these genes is not available in Mentha arvensis. To bridge the gap in knowledge on differential biosynthesis of monoterpenes leading to compositional variation in the essential oil of these species, a comparative transcriptome analysis of the glandular trichome (GT) was carried out. In addition to the mevalonic acid (MVA) and methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway genes, about 210 and 196 different terpene synthases (TPSs) transcripts were identified from annotation in M. arvensis and M. × piperita, respectively, and correlated to several monoterpenes present in the essential oil. Six isoforms of (-)-menthol dehydrogenases (MD), the last enzyme of the menthol biosynthetic pathway, were identified, cloned and characterized from the transcriptome data (three from each species). Varied expression levels and differential enzyme kinetics of these isoforms indicated the nature and composition of the product, as these isoforms generate both (-)-menthol and (+)-neomenthol from (-)-menthone and converts (-)-menthol to (-)-menthone in the reverse reaction, and hence together determine the quantity of (-)-menthol in the essential oil in these two species. Several genes for high value minor monoterpenes could also be identified from the transcriptome data.