Antimicrobial bioactive compounds from marine algae: A mini review

Research on natural products from marine algae has increased dramatically since last few decades. Marine natural products provide a rich source of chemically diverse compounds which have significant potential to be developed as novel types of therapeutic agents. Certain marine products diverse in biological and therapeutic potential have been found to exhibit significant antimicrobial effects against number of harmful pathogens. Among them, marine macro-algae are considered as an excellent source of bioactive compounds which have a broad range of biological activities including antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral potential. In this article, we review the biological potential of bioactive compounds derived from marine algae with a proposed outline of their antimicrobial mechanism of action. In addition, we have also given emphasis on recent advances of secondary metabolites from marine resources along with their pharmacological effects and other uses in human food. A brief discussion on the chemical nature of marine-based bioactive compounds has also been presented.