Review Article Cite this paper as: Ghaliaoui N, Hazzit M, Hind Mokrane H. Seaweeds as a Potential Source of Bioactive Compounds. Research in Biotechnology and Environmental Science. 2024; 3(1): 1-8. DOI: 10.58803/rbes.v3i1.19 The Author(s). Published by Rovedar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Rovedar Research in Biotechnology and Environmental Science. 2024; 3(1): 1-8. DOI: 10.58803/rbes.v3i1.19 http://rbes.rovedar.com/ Seaweeds as a Potential Source of Bioactive Compounds Nora Ghaliaoui 1,2,* , Mohamed Hazzit 3 , and Hind Mokrane 2 1 Center for Scientific and Technical Research in Physico-Chemical Analyzes (CRAPC), Tipaza, Algeria 2 Laboratory for Research on Bioactive Products and Biomass Valorization, Department of Chemistry, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Kouba, Algiers, Algeria 3 Department of Food Technology, National School of Agronomy, El Harrach (ENSA), Algiers, Algeria * Corresponding author: Nora Ghaliaoui, Laboratory for Research on Bioactive Products and Biomass Valorization, Department of Chemistry, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Kouba, Algiers, Algeria. Email: noragh50@yahoo.com A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article History: Received: 30/11/2023 Revised: 30/11/2023 Accepted: 12/03/2024 Published: 29/03/2024 Seaweeds or marine macroalgae are the oldest members of the plant kingdom, with a history extending back many hundreds of millions of years. Based on photosynthetic pigments, marine macroalgae can be classified into three groups, namely green algae commonly known as Chlorophyta, brown algae or Phaeophyta, and red algae also called Rhodophyta. In response to different kinds of environmental stress, marine algae develop defense strategies resulting in a significant level of structural chemical diversity, from different metabolic pathways. In this review a brief description of the most important seaweed compounds and their bioactivities are presented in this study. Seaweeds contain minerals, amino acids, proteins, fatty acids, lipids, polysaccharides, dietary fibers, vitamins, and various secondary metabolites, such as phenols, alkaloids, terpenes, and pigments. Many of these constituents possess high economic values and can be extracted to obtain antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-obesity, antidiabetic, and antihypertensive products. Therefore, a new trend to isolate and identify bioactive compounds and constituents from marine algae has emerged. Keywords: Bioactive compounds Marine algae Marine macroalgae Seaweeds 1. Introduction The oceans cover more than 70% of the Earth's surface and contain a variety of marine species that constitute about half of the known worldwide biodiversity 1 . This vast marine diversity is a potential source of various functional ingredients, such as polysaccharides, bioactive peptides, polyunsaturated fatty acids, minerals, natural pigments, vitamins, and enzymes 2 . Among marine organisms, marine algae are still identified as under-exploited plant resources although they have been used for thousands of years in China, Korea, and Japan and all over the world for various food and non-food purposes 3 . The term marine algae generally refers to marine macroalgae or seaweeds, they are mostly photosynthetic organisms 4 with big morphological, taxonomical, and phylogenetic differentiation 5 . Macroalgae are taxonomically divided into red (Rhodophyceae), green (Chlorophyta), and brown algae (Phaeophyceae). In recent years, several studies showed that marine algae are important sources of bioactive natural substances directly related to modulating chronic disease as shown in Figure 1. Several bioactivities of algal compounds were described to date ranging from antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antifungal, and antiviral to anti-obesity, and antidiabetic activities and against specific parasites 6 . Therefore, a new trend to isolate and identify bioactive compounds and constituents from marine algae has emerged. This article presented a review of metabolite classes produced by this biochemically rich organism as well as their bioactivity. 2. Seaweeds (Marine macroalgae) Seaweeds or marine macroalgae are the oldest members of the plant kingdom, extending back millions of years. They live either in marine or saltwater environments. Compared to plants, they have little tissue differentiation, and contain no roots, stems, leaves, flowers,