Current Scenario and Future Prospects of Marine Life as Source of Food and Nutraceuticals: A Review

Payal Karmakar

Abstract

With increasing public awareness regarding health, diet and nutrition, the stage is now to set for the use of seafoods and marine life for the development of functional foods and nutraceutical products. Since times immemorial, fisheries and aquaculture sector have been providing mankind with various benefits including employment, food and even nutraceuticals. Even animals are benefiting from marine life which act as source of nutrition and drugs for them. These are obtained from marine fishes and various oil seeds enriched with high fat content. Microalgae can produce the highest quantity of carotenoids, mainly astaxanthin. Similar to other industries, marine industry also faces various hurdles like production and commercialization of aquatic life, which can, in turn, affect the local and global economy. Right now, the worth of marine functional foods and drugs is in billions of dollars and is bound to increase in the years to come as more and more people are becoming aware of its health benefits. This review deals with the different varieties of marine life that have been effectively used in recent years as sources of food and nutraceuticals.

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