Seaweeds: Bioactive Components and Properties, Potential Risk Factors, Uses, Extraction and Purification Methods

Abstract

Seaweeds, also known as macroalgae, are abundant sources of various vital bioactive components with a wide range of biological functions. They are sold commercially and are primarily used in the food industry, pharmaceuticals, cosmeceuticals, and other related industries. The diverse biological activities linked with bioactive compounds obtained from seaweeds have the potential to expand their health benefit value in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Studies revealed that seaweeds have the potential to be used as complementary medicine due to its variety of biological properties that have been shown to be therapeutic for health and disease management, such as antibacterial, anticoagulant, anticancer, antidiabetic, antiestrogenic, antihypertensive, antihyperlipidemic, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiobesity, antiviral, immunomodulatory, neuroprotective, thyroid stimulant, tissue healing properties, and many more. Although seaweeds are generally beneficial to humans, they may still pose possible health risks due to high iodine concentration and exposure to heavy metals and arsenic concentrations. However, information on this topic is still limited. With the great importance of seaweeds, various green extraction methods such as Microwave-assisted Extraction (MAE), Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE), Pressurized Solvents Extraction (PSE) and Enzyme-ssisted Extraction (EAE) were used as an alternative to the conventional method to isolate bioactive components and further purified using chromatographic technique analysis to ensure the purity of the extract. This review covers the following topics: general structure and characteristics of seaweeds, seaweed production, bioactive components and properties of seaweed, possible risk factors of seaweeds, applications of seaweeds, extraction, and purification of seaweed extracts.