Pharmacological Perspectives on Seaweed Fucoxanthin-A Review for Potentiating New and Comprehensive Investigation towards Drug Development.

Fucoxanthin is a carotenoid present in brown seaweed and has been investigated for its potential to burn fat in addition to possessing the ability to treat anomalies arising out of glucose metabolism. Further it has been shown to provide other pharmacological actions including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anticancer, and other potential activities. Fucoxanthin serves as a functional food in several Asian countries due to its beneficial effects in human health. Over 35 million tonnes of seaweed are produced worldwide and Asian region accounts for 97% of the total production. Brown seaweed production is concentrated on 5 genera that account for > 95% of the world production: (one third from Laminaria/Saccharina) and red seaweed are the most predominant genera (one third from Kappaphycus/Eucheuma) and ~10% from Gracilaria). Although several reports are available on the utility, mechanism of pharmacologicalaction of the seaweeds, their utility in novel formulations and effect in neurodegenerative disorders is not investigated much. This review is an attempt to bring out the scope of fucoxanthin derived from brown seaweed in neurodegerative diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]