A Comprehensive Review of the Nutraceutical and Therapeutic Applications of Red Seaweeds (Rhodophyta)

Abstract

The red seaweed group (Rhodophyta) is one of the phyla of macroalgae, among the groups Phaeophyceae and Chlorophyta, brown and green seaweeds, respectively. Nowadays, all groups of macroalgae are getting the attention of the scientific community due to the bioactive substances they produce. Several macroalgae products have exceptional properties with nutraceutical, pharmacological, and biomedical interest. The main compounds studied are the fatty acids, pigments, phenols, and polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are the most exploited molecules, which are already widely used in various industries and are, presently, entering into more advanced applications from the therapeutic point of view. The focuses of this review are the red seaweeds’ compounds, its proprieties, and its uses. Moreover, this work discusses new possible applications of the compounds of the red seaweeds.

Seaweed Phenolics: From Extraction to Applications

“…The major problem of these compounds to be inserted in real commercial applications is mainly the compound concentration in seaweed, due to the low extraction efficiency and seaweed biomass availability [15,45,105]. The solution goes through seaweed aquaculture that already exists but at a low level [268].…”

“…Seaweeds are commonly exposed to harsh environmental conditions, and the damage effects on them are not visible; consequently, the seaweed produces a large range of metabolites (xanthophylls, tocopherols, and polysaccharides) to protect from abiotic and biotic factors, such as herbivory and sea mechanical aggression [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Note that seaweed metabolites content and diversity is subject to abiotic and biotic factors, such as species, life stage, size, age, reproductive status, location, depth,…”

Seaweed’s Bioactive Candidate Compounds to Food Industry and Global Food Security

“…Seaweeds can assume an important role in global food security, being a nutritious food when produced and consumed within the safety standards. Still, further advances are needed to sustain seaweed as a key element in food security, at the level of actively monitoring the potentially harmful compounds, developing and increasing seaweed aquaculture, and developing new processing methods to ensure the risky compounds are below the harmful level, thus protecting human consumption and being more available in the market [21,66,67]. On one hand, a controlled aquaculture system can be the key for safe seaweed production to cultivate more standardized seaweeds with a strict control of the seaweed quality.…”

“…Bioactive compounds taken from algae have fuelled nutraceutical interest in seaweeds. Polysaccharides (for instance, alginate, fucoidan, ulvan, agar, and carrageenan), proteins (for example, phycobiliproteins), carotenoids (beta-carotene and fucoxanthin), phenolic compounds (such as phlorotannins), vitamins (particularly vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and K), essential minerals (such as calcium, iron, iodine, magnesium, and potassium) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (namely ω-3 fatty acids) [ 14 , 16 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ] constitute the interesting group of compounds. These compounds, isolated from seaweed, have been studied against diseases and pathologies that directly affect humans, such as hyperglycemia, diabetes, metabolic disorders, cancer, pathogenic diseases, aging, obesity, bone-related diseases, and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”

Progress of Bromophenols in Marine Algae from 2011 to 2020: Structure, Bioactivities, and Applications

“…Therefore, it is necessary to report these new findings, and so in the present review, we mainly focus on the biological activities of newly discovered BPs from marine algae and also on some of BPs’ representative derivatives synthesized in the last ten years. Recently, BPs have also been treated briefly in other reviews [ 47 , 48 , 49 ].…”