Review on Bioactive Potential in Seaweeds (Marine Macroalgae): A Special Emphasis on Bioactivity of Seaweeds Against Plant Pathogens

摘要

The term 'bioactive compound' is an expression in common use and includes compounds, which at low concentrations, may be either beneficial or harmful to living organisms. Generally, the term refers to secondary metabolites that have attracted the attention of both scientists and industrialists. Seaweeds have been identified as a rich source of bioactive compounds. Seaweeds constituting an important renewable marine resource occur generally on the rocky substratum in the intertidal and sub tidal regions of the coastal waters. They are the only source for the production of agar, algin and carrageenan. Ocean has been recognized as a store house of fine chemicals. Besides their traditional use as phycocolloids and liquid fertilizer, seaweeds also knownto possesses compounds exhibiting antimicrobial potential against the pathogenic microbes of medical, agricultural and environmental importance. Pharmacologists, physiologists and chemists have been paying increasing attention to the marine organisms particularly on seaweeds for screening bioactive substances. Several works have been undertaken on crude and purified compounds obtained from seaweeds for evaluating their bioactive potential (Faulkner, 1992).