Abstract

A REVIEW ON THE POTENTIALITY OF MARINE SEAWEEDS AS A MEDICINAL SOURCE

Sradhasini Rout* and Anjan Kumar

ABSTRACT

The east coast of India is a unique marine habitat with diverse seaweeds. This is one of the most important living resources of the ocean. In spite of their wide applications in various industries, these have importance as medicinal sources because of a rich source of valuable chemical components phycocolloids like agar, gelatin carrageenan or alginate, carbohydrates, proteins dietary minerals particularly iodine, polyphenols, carotiniods, flavonoids, dietary fibers, vitamins and iron. As a rich source of valuable chemical components seaweeds possess anti-oxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti inflammatory and antidiabetic properties. Being a plant of unique structure and biochemical a wide composition, could be used in the form of food, energy, medicine and pharmaceutical industries. The distribution, medicinal properties and wide application of seaweeds are discussed in detail in this study.

Keywords: Seaweeds, living resources, ocean, phycocolloids, biochemical composition, medicinal resources.