Nutritional and bioactive potential of seagrasses: A review

Seagrasses, one of the most threatened yet overlooked ecosystems on Earth, are the only flowering plants to recolonising the seabed. Apart from their critical ecological prominence on the life of many marine organ-isms, seagrasses are also used as an alternative or complementary medicine to manage an array of pathologi-cal disorders such as muscle aches, wounds, abdominal pain, indigestion, hangover, and mental disorders. However, a compilation of existing work on their ethnopharmacological uses, nutritional values, pharmaco-logical propensities and bioactive compounds is lacking. Thus, this review aims at elaborating on the bio-chemical composition, phytochemical analysis, and biological properties including antioxidant, antimicrobial activities of various species of seagrasses. Seagrasses harbour several metabolites with multiple bioactivities. The phytochemical compounds isolated from Zostera marina L., Thalassia testudinum K. D. Koenig. and Thalas-sodendron ciliatum (Forssk.) exhibit a plethora of biological activities, including cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines, anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), antimicrobial, and skin regenerating properties. This review also identifies vital lacuna in seagrass research. For instance, the mechanism and site of action of com-pounds displaying potent biological activities has not been adequately addressed together with optimisation of extraction methods to isolate minor metabolites and applying technological advancements in biological assays. In conclusion, this review provides a synthesis of current knowledge and highlights future work that needs to be undertaken for the biomedical application of such natural resources . (c) 2020 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.