Therapeutic health booster: seaweeds against several maladies

Abstract

Seaweeds (marine macro algae) are extremely important oceanic resource having unique secondary metabolites. They have the potential for supporting industrial development as being source of many essential substances such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, nutritional supplements etc. Seaweeds offer a wide range of therapeutic possibilities was established only some decades ahead. Several pharmacologically important metabolites have been discovered from seaweeds in recent years, the exploitation of seaweeds for therapeutically active molecules is still in its embryonic stage. In order to harness the rich therapeutic potential of seaweeds the present limited use needs to be diversified into several applications. Present review highlights a state of art on the medicinal value of seaweeds and their exploitation scenario on a global scale.