Abstract

Marine environment upholds vast biodiversity, which also acts as a treasurer of a huge variety of bioactive molecules. Bioactive components of marine origin range from peptides, lipids, fatty acids, proteins, minerals, phenolic compounds, vitamins, terpenoids, polyketides, polysaccharides etc. Marine-derived peptides have been explored to a larger extent for their biological applications. In recent years, polysaccharides, one of the essential macromolecules in all forms of living, have been gaining attention for their relevance in biological applications. Among the polysaccharides derived from various living forms, marine-derived polysaccharides are effective in terms of their biological activities owing to their structural diversity, composition, availability etc. Marine polysaccharides exhibit a broad spectrum of biological and pharmacological activities ranging from anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancerous, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antidiabetic and immunomodulatory activities. Additionally, these bioactive polysaccharides also exert antimicrobial activities against a broad range of clinically important pathogenic organisms. Due to their excellent antimicrobial activities, marine polysaccharides, their sulfated derivatives and polysaccharide-based nanoparticles are gaining attention in biomedical applications such as wound dressing, drug delivery, tissue engineering etc.