Seaweed biotechnology in Brazil: six decades of studies on natural products and their antibiotic and other biological activities

The Brazilian seaweed assemblage currently comprises 770 taxa, distributed along 7,367 km of coastline with highly diverse ecological conditions, suggesting a high biotechnological potential for these species. Studies on seaweed biotechnology in Brazil began in 1948 and have produced extensive published information that is presently scattered in many sources. This manuscript presents an overview of biotechnology studies on seaweeds that were carried out in Brazil, from the earliest through 2012, with the purpose of directing new studies in this field. The studies analyzed were retrieved from the curricula of Brazilian seaweed researchers, centralized in the public database Currículo Lattes, supported by the Brazilian National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq). Scientific papers dealing with biological activities of natural extracts from native and some non-native seaweeds were selected. The survey was complemented by a search for older references cited in the first group. Together, the studies extend over 64 years, totaling 364 scientific papers investigating the potential of 160 seaweed taxa, including tests for 6 antibiotic activities, 11 categories of other biological activities, and a wide range of natural products. In general, the studies focused on antiinflammatory, antinociceptive, and antiviral activities, and some characterized the effects of molecules, including sulfated polysaccharides, lectins, and terpenes.