ABSTRACT
Nature’s produce has been the lone most productive source in the development of new pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. Interest for natural products has revived with great consideration in the last few decades. Their efficacy with the least toxicity to humans has increased their affinity in the research community. One such variant is algae which are known to produce a wide range of secondary metabolites of human interest. A few examples of secondary metabolites produced by algae include peptides, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, polysaccharides, unsaturated fatty acids, phycobiliprotein pigments etc. These compounds are demonstrated to possess biological activities like anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobial against bacteria and virus. Moreover, many algal species are equipped with the potential to produce an enormous amount of target molecule viz. proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, pigments of commercial scale. Therefore, hyphenated extraction processes such as solvent derived extraction, enzyme-assisted extraction for secondary metabolites is under great consideration. Given the side effects and growing resistance towards the existing drugs, the potential of different algal species in nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals are the need of the hour.
