Cited by 118Seaweed-derived Bioactive CompoundsAlgal biology and biofuel productionFood Industry and Aquatic Biology

Bioactive substances and potentiality of marine microalgae

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Wu, Jinhong, Gu, Xinzhe, Yang, Danlu, Xu, Shannan, Wang, Shaoyun, Chen, Xu, Wang, Zhengwu·2021·Food Science & Nutrition

Abstract

Microalgae is one of the most important components in the aquatic ecosystem, and they are increasingly used in food and medicine production for human consumption due to their rapid growth cycle and survival ability in the harsh environment. Now, the exploration of microalgae has been gradually deepening, mainly focused on the field of nutrition, medicine, and cosmetics. A great deal of studies has shown that microalgae have a variety of functions in regulating the body health and preventing disease, such as nitrogen fixation, antitumor, antivirus, antioxidation, anti-inflammatory, and antithrombotic. Furthermore, microalgae can synthesize various high-valued bioactive substances, such as proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, and pigments. In this paper, we have briefly reviewed the research progress of main bioactive components in microalgae, proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, pigments, and other nutrients included, as well as their present application situation. This paper can provide the guidance for research and development of industrial production of microalgae.

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Crossref · 10.1002/fsn3.2471

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  • Many existing human studies of microalgae bioactives suffer from small sample sizes, short intervention periods, and a lack of rigorous, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled designs.

    “Many existing human studies suffer from small sample sizes, short intervention periods, and a lack of rigorous, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled designs [78].”

    From Microalgae Bioactives for Functional Food Innovation and Health Promotion (2025) · cites this paper as [78]

    The Conclusion discusses microalgal bioactives and challenges in industrial development, but does not assess the quality of human studies. Searches for sample size, intervention duration, and randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled designs found no passage making the claimed assessment; the References list includes one such trial, which does not establish a general pattern. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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1 of the 119 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 9

  1. 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.5b00839.s001 · DOI
  2. 10.1007/s11274‐009‐0240‐y · DOI
  3. 10.1016/j.yrtph.2011.03.001 · DOI
  4. Fu J., 2016, Research of the edible oil contained DHA affecting the antioxidant activity of SD rats livers, Science and Technology of Food Industry, 37, 356
  5. 10.3390/molecules17089116 · DOI
  6. 10.1007/s10811‐005‐0679‐7 · DOI
  7. 10.1016/j.algal.2018.11.018 · DOI
  8. 10.13227/j.hjkx.2001.04.010 · DOI
  9. Zheng C., 2017, Effect of soybean blend oil containing DHA algae oil on antioxidant capacity and peroxidation of cerebral cortex of SD rat, China Oils Fats, 42, 84

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Authors
Wu, J., Gu, X., Yang, D., Xu, S., Wang, S., Chen, X., & Wang, Z.
Affiliations
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
  • Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (CN)
  • Fuzhou University (CN)
  • College of Biological Science and Technology Fuzhou University Fuzhou China
Corresponding author
Xu, Shannan
Venue
Food Science & Nutrition
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2021-07-26
Volume
9
Issue
9
Pages
5279-5292
ISSN
2048-7177 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3186132819
Cited by
118
References
119
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 2
FWCI
1.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Food Science & Nutrition (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
National Natural Science Foundation of China (31972017)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Industry and Aquatic Biology
Keywords
marine microalgae, bioactive compounds, microalgal proteins, microalgal lipids, microalgae polysaccharides, microalgal pigments, anticancer activity, antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory activity, antithrombotic activity, antiviral activity, nitrogen fixation

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