ABSTRACT
Sulphated fucans are usually referred to as fucans or fucoidans. The fucan molecule is a heterogeneous macromolecule mainly made up of L-fucopyranosyl compounds linked covalently with sulphate molecules. Fucans have been mainly extracted from the extracellular matrix of brown seaweed, the jelly coat of sea urchin eggs and the body wall of sea cucumber. The global market is making an effort to bring in nutraceuticals to supply healthy and bioactive food to the population. The focus on nutraceuticals has increased due to increasing lifestyle diseases, life expectancy and inadequate nutrition. The chapter deals with the nutraceutical efficiency of fucans. Fucans were found to have antithrombotic activity, anticancer activity, anti-inflammatory activity, antioxidant activity, anticoagulant activity and so on. Fucan was found to have diverse pharmacological and biomedical applications. Its ability to be modified easily and to be used in combinations also tends to make it an important candidate in medicine.
