Microalgae are capable producers of food, feed supplement, chemicals, and biofuels. Marine microalgae and cyanobacteria are rich in several chemical compounds therefore, they could be used in some biological applications related with health benefits. Through microalgae, a wide variety of compounds such as polyphenols, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), or phytosterols can be obtained. However,...

The historical paradigm of the deep ocean as a biological 'desert' has shifted to one of a 'rainforest' owing to the isolation of many novel microbes and their associated bioactive compounds. Recently, there has been an explosion of information about novel bioactive compounds that have been isolated from marine microbes in an effort to further explore the relatively untapped marine microbes and...

Endophytic fungi live inside plants, apparently do not cause any harm to their hosts and may play important roles in defense and growth promotion. Endophytes are microorganism that lives between living plant cell. Their relationship may vary with plant from symbiotic to bordening on pathogenic. Endophytes may contribute to their host plant by producing a plethora of substances that provide prot...

Functional foods include any natural product that presents health-promoting effects, thereby reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Cerrado fruits are considered a source of bioactive substances, mainly phenolic compounds, making them important functional foods. Despite this, the losses of natural vegetation in the Cerrado are progressive. Hence, the knowledge propagation about the importance o...

This review deals with the key bioactive compounds and the role of medicinal plants in Ayurvedic systems of medicine in India and their earlier investigation. There has been an increase in demand for the Phytopharmaceutical products of Ayurvĕda in Western countries, because of the fact that the allopathic drugs have more side effects. Many pharmaceutical companies are now concentrating on manuf...

Introduction Food, besides supplying nutrients, contains a wide variety of bioactive substances, especially food of plant origin. The Swiss sage and physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) regarded plants as being a source of food, medicine and poison. He noted that ‘All things are poisons and nothing is without toxicity. Only the dose prevents anything not to be poisonous’. The term toxicity is gener...

Biomarkers and their role in evaluating efficacy and safety were the topic of the 23rd Hohenheim Consensus Meeting at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart. Scientists who had published and reviewed scientific and regulatory papers on the topic were invited, among them basic researchers, toxicologists, clinicians, and nutritionists. The participants were presented with 11 questions (in bold ...

Marine environments are a fruitful source of bioactive compounds some of which are the newest leading drugs in medicinal therapeutics. Of particular importance are organisms like sponges and macroalgae and their associated microbiome. Planctomycetes, abundant in macroalgae biofilms, are promising producers of bioactive compounds since they share characteristics, like large genomes and complex l...

Currently there is an increased global interest on implication of nutritious diet on health sustainability. On this aspect nutraceuticals have assumed paramount importance based on their presumed safety and potential nutritional and therapeutic value. Microalgae are rich source of bioactive compounds having nutritional and therapeutic value and thus have found commercial applications as natural...