Sulfated polysaccharides from green seaweeds

Abstract

With the growing interest in the development of novel bioactive compounds from marine resources, underutilized marine green algae have been considered as valuable sources of structurally diverse bioactive compounds. Among their various constituents, water-soluble sulfated polysaccharides possess innovative and unique structures and numerous beneficial biological activities, such as anticoagulation, antioxidation, anticancer, and antivirus activities. The sulfated polysaccharides derived from green seaweeds, therefore, have great potential as ingredients in nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and functional food products. An overview of the diverse structural features and biological activities of sulfated polysaccharides from green seaweeds along with a brief mention of the structure-bioactivity relationship are presented in this chapter.