Brown seaweed phenolics and photosynthetic pigments: Bioavailability, challenges, and potential applications in food industries

Abstract

Currently, brown seaweeds (BS) are gaining huge interest due to their richness in secondary metabolites with attractive biological activities. Phenolic compounds and photosynthetic pigments (PGs) are prospective secondary metabolites isolated from BS, and they have the potential to be developed in various applications. Those secondary metabolites possess biological active properties, such as antioxidants, anti-inflammation, anti-allergy, anti-microbes, immunomodulatory activity, and anti-cancer, which protect against metabolite syndrome-related diseases. These properties make them ideal for applications in nutraceuticals, functional foods, and pharmaceutical industries. This review comprehensively discusses polyphenols and PGs characteristics, bio-function, bioavailability, and metabolism in biological systems and potential technology to improve their stability and bioavailability, as well as their applications in food industries.