# Marine Bioactives and Their Application in the Food Industry: A Review
###### Abstract  
The structurally diverse bioactive compounds found in marine organisms represent valuable resources for the food and pharmaceutical industries. The marine ecosystem encompasses over half of the world's biota, providing an extensive range of bioactive compounds that can be extracted from various marine life forms, including marine microorganisms (such as bacteria, cyanobacteria, and actinobacteria), algae (both macroalgae and microalgae), invertebrates (including sponges, mollusks, echinoderms, and crustaceans), and, most importantly, fish. Many of these organisms thrive in extreme marine environments, leading to the production of complex molecules with unique biological functions. Consequently, marine biomolecules, such as lipids (especially polyunsaturated fatty acids), proteins/peptides, polysaccharides, carotenoids, phenolics, and saponins, exhibit a wide range of biological properties and can serve as valuable components in nutraceuticals and functional foods. Nevertheless, most of these biomolecules are susceptible to oxidation and degradation; encapsulation-based technologies tend to preserve them and increase their bioavailability and functions. These biological compounds demonstrate diverse activities, including antioxidant, anticancer, antithrombotic, anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, and cardioprotective effects, making them promising candidates for applications in the food industry. Despite their numerous health benefits, marine bioactive compounds have remained underutilized, not only in the food industry but also in the pharmaceutical and nutraceuticalt sectors. Therefore, this review aims to provide an overview of the various sources of marine bioactive compounds and their potential contributions to the food industry. marie bioactive compounds; biological properties; functional foods; food industry +
Footnote †: journal: Medical  
range of marine bioactive components can be obtained from various origins, encompassing marine animals, plants, and other organisms, each with their distinct assortment of biomolecules. These include polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), polysaccharides, proteins/peptides/protein hydrolyses/enzymes, natural pigments, phenolic compounds, vitamins, and essential minerals [2; 3]. Marine by-products, including head, viscera, skin, and bones, often constitute over 50% of the biomass, which contains a wide range of biomolecules and is mostly underutilized [6]. For example, sea cucumber by-products, mainly gut materials, represent up to 50% of sea cucumber body weight, which is a rich source of PUFAs and phenolic compounds (phenolic acids and flavonoids), exhibiting antioxidant activity [7]. Hence, marine bioactive compounds hold a significant potential to be a potential candidate in the value-added nutraceutical, functional food ingredient, and natural health product sector that can be used for health promotion and food preservation [8]. In particular, due to tremendous functional (e.g., stabilizing, emulsifying, gelling, and water-thickening) and biological (e.g., anticancer, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, wound healing, and antimicrobial) properties, marine-derived bioactive compounds have gained significant interest as a promising source of functional ingredients. For instance, due to antibacterial and antihypertensive properties as well as foaming and gel-forming capacities, proteins/peptides are considered one of the most promising ingredients in the functional food sector. Nowadays, polysaccharides (alginate, agar, carrageenan, and fucoidan) derived from seaweeds are commonly used in the food industry because of their distinct physiological benefits [8]. Although the abundance of the sources of bioactives in the marine environment and their application in the functional food industry is promising, numerous obstacles must be overcome on the road to the commercialization of these products.