Bioactive Compounds from Marine Resources:A Boon for Human Health

Abstract

Increasing knowledge regarding the impact of diet on human health along with state-of-the-art technologies has led to significant nutritional discoveries, product innovations and mass production on an unprecedented scale. The ocean is a largely unexplored treasure chest of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and products for human health. Marine products continue to gain in worldwide popularity as they are being successfully utilized for in a wide range of human health benefits. The world's marine environment constitutes the greatest diversity of nutrients found on the planet. A number of plant and animal species are commonly used as food sources and are known to produce a vast array of chemical components that can be and are developed into nutraceutical ingredients with beneficial medicinal uses. The marine environment represents a relatively untapped source of functional ingredients that can be applied to various aspects of food processing, storage and fortification. Although large numbers of novel compounds have been isolated from marine organisms and many of these substances have pronounced biological activity, only very few have been marketed as pharmaceutical products. The exploration of the potential of marine biodiversity is still at a very early stage and requires the development of co-ordinated infrastructures as well as close collaboration between government, biotech industries and academia.