Antioxidants from marine cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria are predominant photosynthetic prokaryotes in a diverse range of habitats from terrestrial to marine. They have a series of adaptations, including antioxidants to thrive in a stressful habitat. The antioxidant defense system in marine cyanobacteria includes enzymatic antioxidants and nonenzymatic antioxidants. The nonenzymatic low-molecular-weight antioxidants from cyanobacteria find a variety of applications, such as in medicine, cosmetics, and the food industry. Accordingly, marine cyanobacteria are considered to be a source for novel nutraceuticals, owing to their richness in carotenoids, phycobiliproteins such as phycocyanin and phycoerythrin, phenolics, glutathione, scytonemin, mycosporine such as amino acids, and vitamins such as ascorbate and tocopherol. Cyanobacteria are emerging as a better alternative to commercially synthesized antioxidants used in several products manufactured by the pharmaceutical and food industry.