A review on medicinal and commercial use of Marine Algae

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1745-1750
Author(s):  
Navaith Ahmed S ◽  
Usharani B

Algae are a various group of autotrophic organisms that varies from unicellular to multicellular forms and found in saltwater as well as freshwater. They are key producers with a great source of nutrients and vitamins. In the last few decades’ discovery of biological activity from marine algae has increased significantly. Seaweed offers wide range of therapeutic possibilities both externally and internally as they are good source of neutraceuticals and potent drug. Seaweed is widely distributed along temperate and tropical coastlines of the world and they found to depths of 50-60 meters. Our focus is on the potential applications of the medical field. It is used as medicine, food and supplement for ages and also found in rudimentary applications in the cosmetics and industrial industry. The potential uses of algae in the medical field are based on properties like antioxidant, anticancer, antiviral, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antieczemic etc., The nutrient value in the algae envisages it as a potential supplement for vitamins. Algae is accepted as complete food as it is well balanced with carbohydrates, proteins, essential amino acids, minerals and vitamins and they are commonly named superfoods. Medicinal properties of different algae species attract the attention of scientists worldwide for the synthesis of pharmaceutical products that promote good health. Algae are also widely used in Obesity management which is one of the great challenges of the century.

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 318
Author(s):  
Paula García Milla ◽  
Rocío Peñalver ◽  
Gema Nieto

Moringa oleifera belongs to the Moringaceae family and is the best known of the native Moringa oleifera genus. For centuries, it has been used as a system of Ayurvedic and Unani medicine and has a wide range of nutritional and bioactive compounds, including proteins, essential amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, fibre, vitamins, minerals, phenolic compounds, phytosterols and others. These characteristics allow it to have pharmacological properties, including anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antioxidant, cardioprotective, antimicrobial and hepatoprotective properties. The entire Moringa oleifera plant is edible, including its flowers, however, it is not entirely safe, because of compounds that have been found mainly in the root and bark, so the leaf was identified as the safest. Moringa oleifera is recognised as an excellent source of phytochemicals, with potential applications in functional and medicinal food preparations due to its nutritional and medicinal properties; many authors have experimented with incorporating it mainly in biscuits, cakes, brownies, meats, juices and sandwiches. The results are fascinating, as the products increase their nutritional value; however, the concentrations cannot be high, as this affects the organoleptic characteristics of the supplemented products. The aim of this study is to review the application of Moringa oleifera in bakery products, which will allow the creation of new products that improve their nutritional and functional value.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ratih Pangestuti ◽  
Evi Siahaan ◽  
Se-Kwon Kim

Marine algae have received great attention as natural photoprotective agents due to their unique and exclusive bioactive substances which have been acquired as an adaptation to the extreme marine environment combine with a range of physical parameters. These photoprotective substances include mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), sulfated polysaccharides, carotenoids, and polyphenols. Marine algal photoprotective substances exhibit a wide range of biological activities such as ultraviolet (UV) absorbing, antioxidant, matrix-metalloproteinase inhibitors, anti-aging, and immunomodulatory activities. Hence, such unique bioactive substances derived from marine algae have been regarded as having potential for use in skin care, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products. In this context, this contribution aims at revealing bioactive substances found in marine algae, outlines their photoprotective potential, and provides an overview of developments of blue biotechnology to obtain photoprotective substances and their prospective applications.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred Maroyi

Gunnera perpensais the only species of the genusGunnerathat has been recorded in Africa. Its leaves, rhizomes, roots, and stems are reported to possess diverse medicinal properties and used to treat or manage various human and animal diseases and ailments.Gunnera perpensais an ingredient in many herbal concoctions and prescriptions which have been used to induce or augment labour, postnatal medication, to treat parasitic diseases, urinary complaints, kidney problems, general body pains, sexually transmitted infections, and many other diseases. Several classes of phytochemicals including alkaloids, benzoquinones, ellagic acids, flavonoids, phenols, proanthocyanidins, tannins, and minerals have been isolated fromG. perpensa. Scientific studies onG. perpensaindicate that it has a wide range of pharmacological activities including acetylcholinesterase, anthelmintic, antibacterial, antifungal, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitumour, lactogenic, and uterotonic.Gunnera perpensahas a lot of potential as a possible source of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of a wide range of both human and animal diseases and ailments. Some of the chemical compounds isolated fromG. perpensahave demonstrated various biological activities when investigated inin vitroassays. Future research should focus on the mechanisms of action of the isolated compounds, their efficacy, toxicity, and clinical relevance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 86-101
Author(s):  
Mansooreh Sadat Mojani Qomi ◽  
◽  
Monireh Hatami ◽  

Ganoderma lucidum is known in China and Japan as Ling-Zhi and Reishi. Due to medicinal properties and different nutritional compositions, ganoderma lucidum is currently used in food products. It contains essential fatty acids, essential amino acids, and a wide range of polysaccharides; all of which seem to be effective in lowering blood sugar level. This study aims to review the anti-diabetic and hypoglycemic effects of various powders, extracts, and components of ganoderma lucidum, by searching articles in Persian and English published from 2001 to 2020 in SID, MagIran, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases using the keywords: Active compounds, ganoderma lucidum, diabetes mellitus, hyperglycemia. The results showed that ganoderma lucidum uptake in most cases reduced fasting blood sugar, glycosylated hemoglobin, and insulin resistance in diabetic patients due to the its active compounds including the extracted polysaccharides, proteins and triterpenoids. Moreover, its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties seems to reduce the complications of diabetes. In conclusion, the consumption of ganoderma lucidum in diabetic patients can be effective in controlling and preventing the disease, although more studies are needed on its effective dose, side effects and toxicity in human samples.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-56
Author(s):  
Sunu Catur Budiono

Related to the health of rural communities a wide range of medicines here TOGA program implemented because the plant needed an alternative treatment that can be done independently to create an environment and a healthy society. TOGA is the cultivation of plants that have medicinal properties housing. Parks family medicine is essentially a piece of land either in the yard, garden, or fields used to cultivate plants that have medicinal properties in order to meet family needs will be drugs. In addition to planting program will be completed subsequent processing of TOGA investment process with a wide range of processing results. Hopefully the use of TOGA able to create a society that is able to maintain good health with traditionally.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
Mukund R. Shukla ◽  
Annaliese Kibler ◽  
Christina E. Turi ◽  
Lauren A. E. Erland ◽  
J. Alan Sullivan ◽  
...  

Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum L.) is a sacred plant of medicinal and spiritual significance in many cultures. Medicinal properties of Tulsi are ascribed to its phytochemicals with antioxidant capabilities. The current study was undertaken to screen a large seed population of Tulsi to select germplasm lines with high antioxidant potential and to standardize protocols for micropropagation and biomass production to produce a phytochemically consistent crop. A total of 80 germplasm lines were established under in vitro conditions and screened for their antioxidant potential determined with the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) bioassay. The micropropagation of a selected line, named Vrinda, was established using nodal cultures grown on Murashige and Skoog medium containing benzylaminopurine (1.1 µM), gibberellic acid (0.3 µM), and activated charcoal (0.6%). The antioxidant phytohormones melatonin and serotonin were quantified in the field and greenhouse grown tissues of Vrinda and melatonin levels were found to be consistent in both conditions with higher serotonin levels under field conditions. This integrated approach combining the in vitro selection and propagation offers potential applications in the development of safe, effective, and novel natural health products of Tulsi, and many other medicinal plant species.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1566
Author(s):  
Oliver J. Pemble ◽  
Maria Bardosova ◽  
Ian M. Povey ◽  
Martyn E. Pemble

Chitosan-based films have a diverse range of potential applications but are currently limited in terms of commercial use due to a lack of methods specifically designed to produce thin films in high volumes. To address this limitation directly, hydrogels prepared from chitosan, chitosan-tetraethoxy silane, also known as tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and chitosan-glutaraldehyde have been used to prepare continuous thin films using a slot-die technique which is described in detail. By way of preliminary analysis of the resulting films for comparison purposes with films made by other methods, the mechanical strength of the films produced was assessed. It was found that as expected, the hybrid films made with TEOS and glutaraldehyde both show a higher yield strength than the films made with chitosan alone. In all cases, the mechanical properties of the films were found to compare very favorably with similar measurements reported in the literature. In order to assess the possible influence of the direction in which the hydrogel passes through the slot-die on the mechanical properties of the films, testing was performed on plain chitosan samples cut in a direction parallel to the direction of travel and perpendicular to this direction. It was found that there was no evidence of any mechanical anisotropy induced by the slot die process. The examples presented here serve to illustrate how the slot-die approach may be used to create high-volume, high-area chitosan-based films cheaply and rapidly. It is suggested that an approach of the type described here may facilitate the use of chitosan-based films for a wide range of important applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4613
Author(s):  
Gabriela-Maria Baci ◽  
Alexandra-Antonia Cucu ◽  
Adela Ramona Moise ◽  
Daniel Severus Dezmirean

Since ancient times, honey has been considered one of the most illustrious and esteemed natural products. Honey plays two key roles; specifically, it is an appreciated nutritional product, and also exhibits a wide range of beneficial properties for human health as a therapeutic agent. Furthermore, it has been shown that honey has valuable effects on the biological and physiological features of mulberry silkworms (Bombyx mori). Bombyx mori exhibits importance not only for the economy, but it also serves as an important biotechnological bioreactor for the production of recombinant proteins that have a great impact in the medical field and beyond. It also represents an important model organism for life sciences. In view of the fact that silk fibroin serves as a natural biopolymer that displays high biocompatibility with human organisms and due to honey’s various and remarkable properties for human health, the two elements are currently used together in order to develop ideal biomaterials for a wide range of purposes. In this review, by discussing the applicability of honey on Bombyx mori and beyond, the importance of honey for life sciences and related fields is spotlighted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Barbieri ◽  
Ioritz Sorzabal Bellido ◽  
Alison J. Beckett ◽  
Ian A. Prior ◽  
Jo Fothergill ◽  
...  

AbstractIn this work, we introduce a one-step strategy that is suitable for continuous flow manufacturing of antimicrobial PDMS materials. The process is based on the intrinsic capacity of PDMS to react to certain organic solvents, which enables the incorporation of antimicrobial actives such as salicylic acid (SA), which has been approved for use in humans within pharmaceutical products. By combining different spectroscopic and imaging techniques, we show that the surface properties of PDMS remain unaffected while high doses of the SA are loaded inside the PDMS matrix. The SA can be subsequently released under physiological conditions, delivering a strong antibacterial activity. Furthermore, encapsulation of SA inside the PDMS matrix ensured a diffusion-controlled release that was tracked by spatially resolved Raman spectroscopy, Attenuated Total Reflectance IR (ATR-IR), and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The biological activity of the new material was evaluated directly at the surface and in the planktonic state against model pathogenic bacteria, combining confocal laser scanning microscopy, electron microscopy, and cell viability assays. The results showed complete planktonic inhibition for clinically relevant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and a reduction of up to 4 orders of magnitude for viable sessile cells, demonstrating the efficacy of these surfaces in preventing the initial stages of biofilm formation. Our approach adds a new option to existing strategies for the antimicrobial functionalisation of a wide range of products such as catheters, wound dressings and in-dwelling medical devices based on PDMS.


Neurosurgery ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bailey ◽  
Elias B Rizk

Abstract Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a chemical with a wide range of applications. This includes its use in the medical field, in which its use has been ubiquitous but is most useful as an antiseptic and in achieving hemostasis. Neurosurgeons have been using H2O2 for well over a century, primarily for its hemostatic and antiseptic effects. This is in spite of the fact that the actual effectiveness of H2O2 as an antiseptic is questionable, and its use, in general, may be more dangerous than it appears. We review the application of H2O2 in medicine generally and, more specifically, in neurosurgery. This review outlines the reasoning behind the use of H2O2 as an antiseptic and details why it may not be as effective as one might think. We also detail its use as a hemostatic agent in neurosurgery, reviewing a number of techniques in which it has been useful in this role. Finally, we review the documented cases of complications associated with the use of H2O2 in neurosurgery. Ultimately, we conclude that the use of H2O2 in neurosurgery be reconsidered because of its lack of effectiveness as an antiseptic and potentially fatal complications.


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