Fatty acids of marine sponges

Abstract

Among all organisms, thus also marine sponges, accumulate fatty acids (FAs) with a very rich chemistry and are the source of an unprecedented diverse range of chemical structures. This chapter accounts the most recent developments concerning the occurrence of different FA structures in marine sponges and their potential applications. While the first section of the chapter deals with the importance of FAs in various applications, the second section of the chapter focuses on the diversity of FAs with different structural features in marine sponges. FAs in marine sponges differ in the number of olefinic bonds, the extent of branching, the length of the hydrocarbon chain, and the number of functional groups. The last section of the chapter deals with the biomedical potential of the FAs of marine sponges including antibacterial, anti-fungal, antimalarial, and cytotoxic activities, etc.