https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2019/NP/C8NP00092A

Marine natural products.

Global demand for macroalgal and microalgal foods is growing, and algae are increasingly being consumed for functional benefits beyond the traditional considerations of nutrition and health. There is substantial evidence for the health benefits of algal-derived food products, but there remain considerable challenges in quantifying these benefits, as well as possible adverse effects. First, there is a limited understanding of nutritional composition across algal species, geographical regions, and seasons, all of which can substantially affect their dietary value. The second issue is quantifying which fractions of algal foods are bioavailable to humans, and which factors influence how food constituents are released, ranging from food preparation through genetic differentiation in the gut microbiome. Third is understanding how algal nutritional and functional constituents interact in human metabolism. Superimposed considerations are the effects of harvesting, storage, and food processing techniques that can dramatically influence the potential nutritive value of algal-derived foods. We highlight this rapidly advancing area of algal science with a particular focus on the key research required to assess better the health benefits of an alga or algal product. There are rich opportunities for phycologists in this emerging field, requiring exciting new experimental and collaborative approaches.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10811-016-0974-5.pdf

Algae as nutritional and functional food sources: revisiting our understanding

Biological activities and potential health benefits of sulfated polysaccharides derived from marine algae

There is a current tendency towards bioactive natural products with applications in various industries, such as pharmaceutical, biomedical, cosmetics and food. This has put some emphasis in research on marine organisms, including macroalgae and microalgae, among others. Polysaccharides with marine origin constitute one type of these biochemical compounds that have already proved to have several important properties, such as anticoagulant and/or antithrombotic, immunomodulatory ability, antitumor and cancer preventive, antilipidaemic and hypoglycaemic, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, making them promising bioactive products and biomaterials with a wide range of applications. Their properties are mainly due to their structure and physicochemical characteristics, which depend on the organism they are produced by. In the biomedical field, the polysaccharides from algae can be used in controlled drug delivery, wound management, and regenerative medicine. This review will focus on the biomedical applications of marine polysaccharides from algae.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/13/5/2967/pdf

Marine Polysaccharides from Algae with Potential Biomedical Applications

Species of green macroalgae (Chlorophyta) of the genus Ulva are edible seaweeds with a range of health promoting bioactive components. Ulva is high in dietary fibre which promotes gastrointestinal health and is linked to a reduction in the incidence of chronic diseases. The fundamental active constituent of Ulva is the soluble fibre ulvan, a gelling sulfated polysaccharide with biological activities including immunomodulating, antiviral, antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic and anticancer. Ulvan also has the capacity to modulate cellular signalling processes in both plant and animal systems leading to beneficial effects on productivity and health. Consequently, ulvan is of significant interest as a constituent in human health, agricultural, and biomaterial products. This comprehensive systematic review investigates and recommends acid extraction, ultrafiltration, sugar constituent and molecular weight analysis for the extraction, purification, and characterisation of ulvan, respectively. The biological activities of ulvans are then critically reviewed.

Ulvan: A systematic review of extraction, composition and function

Chemical characteristics and anticoagulant activities of a sulfated polysaccharide and its fragments from Monostroma latissimum

The invention relates to Monostroma nitidum polysaccharide, which is characterized in that: sugar chains of the Monostroma nitidum polysaccharide contain rhamnose groups, xylose groups, glucose groups, galactose groups, mannose groups and glucuronic acid groups, and the rhamnose group polysaccharide is a linear long chain molecule which is connected by alpha-1, 2-glycosidic bonds and alpha-1, 3-glycosidic bonds Under the condition of preparation, algae frond is immersed into water for homogenate, and then heated and extracted, and a clear solution is separated, concentrated and desalinated; the desalinated solution is concentrated and deproteinized; the deproteinized solution is concentrated, alcohol deposited, dried, dissolved and then separated through an ion exchange chromatographic column and a gel chromatographic column in turn; the collected solution is concentrated and desalinated; and the desalinated solution is concentrated, alcohol deposited, cleaned, dried and crushed The Monostroma nitidum polysaccharide can be used for preparing a novel anticoagulant or antithrombotic reagent

Hui-Juan Zhang

Papers

Chemical characteristics and anticoagulant activities of a sulfated polysaccharide and its fragments from Monostroma latissimum

Sea lettuce polysaccharide, preparation and use thereof