ABSTRACT
The production of biomass from algae and many valuable extracts from algal derivatives is gaining great attention due to their variety, variable chemical composition and elevated photosynthetic rates. The main focus of this work is on the applications of algal-derived biopharmaceuticals such as antiviral, antimicrobial or germicidal and antifungal products, curative or therapeutic proteins, neuroprotective drugs and medicines that are used in everyday life as more valuable dietary supplements. Algal-based food additives and bioactive compounds are the next-generation source of omega-3 fatty acids, carbohydrates, proteins and high-density lipoproteins. Several chemical compounds extracted from marine polysaccharides are potential explorations of biomolecules that are used against many diseases. The antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, neuroprotective and therapeutic activities of algal species Chlorella minutissima, Ulva lactuca, Chlorella vulgaris and Chlorella protothecoides were already summarized. Strains of blue-green algae Cyanobacteria were reported to prevent respiratory syncytial virus, herpes simplex virus and human immunodeficiency virus illnesses. From this review, it is described that transgenic microalgae have shown great importance in the production of therapeutic human recombinant proteins using their nuclear and chloroplast genomes. It is depicted that marine algae Ulva conglobata have considerable neuroprotective effects on glutamate-induced neurotoxicity on the rodent hippocampal HT22 cell line. It is also presented that microalgal species are employed in wastewater treatment for improving soil fertility and CO2 fixation.
