Seagrass Posidonia oceanica，Human Health: History
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Subjects: Marine & Freshwater Biology
Contributor:
Marzia Vasarri

Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile is a marine plant endemic to the Mediterranean, traditionally used in some medical applications. However, the potential benefits of P. oceanica for human health have only recently been documented. New knowledge gained on the bioactive properties of P. oceanica allow the scientific community to look at this marine plant as a promising source of natural therapeutic products for human health.
Experimental investigations conducted in both in vitro cellular models and in vivo animal models pave the way for new research projects that aim to develop alternative and complementary therapeutic strategies based on P. oceanica against a wide range of pathological conditions.

  • angiosperm
  • marine natural products
  • seagrass
  • secondary metabolites
  • Posidonia oceanica
  • human health

1. Introduction

Seagrasses are flowering and rhizomatous plants that grow only in marine environments and form extensive underwater meadows. They are among the most valuable coastal ecosystems on the planet in terms of the goods and services they provide [1]. Although often confused with algae, seagrasses are marine vascular plants that have many primary and secondary metabolites [2]. 

P. oceanica is the most important seaweed species in the Mediterranean Sea, colonizing vast underwater areas, forming extensive meadows from the surface to 40 m depth, and covering about 1.5% of the total Mediterranean Sea surface [3][4][5]. For this reason, in the last twenty years, P. oceanica has become one of the main targets of the protection and management of the Mediterranean marine environment. It has been included by the European Union’s Habitat Directive (92/43/CEE) among the habitats of priority interest [6][7][8], and it is protected under the Bern and the Barcelona Conventions, and other legislation at a national level. Moreover, the MFSD (2008/56/EC) selected P. oceanica as representative species of the angiosperm quality elements for the Mediterranean marine environment [9].

In recent years, a growing body of evidence has demonstrated that P. oceanica phytocomplex possesses potential beneficial properties for human health [10][11][12][13][14][15], thus increasing the scientific community's interest in P. oceanica as an unexplored resource of phytotherapeutic compounds.

2. Phytochemical Compounds of P. oceanica Leaves

Numerous characterization studies have shown that P. oceanica is a rich source of secondary metabolites (Table 1), mainly represented by phenolic compounds [16].

Table 1. Structures and molecular formulas of major compounds isolated from P. oceanica leaves.
Compound Molecular Formula Structure References
Chicoric Acid C22H18O12 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i001 [10][17][18][19]
Caftaric Acid C13H12O9 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i002 [10][14][16][17][19]
Gentisic Acid C7H6O4 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i003 [10][14][16][17][19]
Chlorogenic Acid C16H18O9 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i004 [10][14][16][17][19]
Caffeic Acid C9H8O4 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i005 [10][14][16][17][19]
Ferulic Acid C10H10O4 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i006 [10][14][16][17][19]
Cinnamic Acid C9H8O2 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i007 [10][14][16][17][19]
Gallic Acid C7H6O5 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i008 [10][14][16][17][19]
p-Coumaric Acid C9H8O3 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i009 [10][14][16][17][19]
Quercitin C15H10O7 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i010 [20][21]
Myricetin C15H10O8 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i011 [20][21]
Kaempferol C15H10O6 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i012 [20][21]
Isorhamnetin C16H12O7 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i013 [20][21]
Phloroglucinol C6H6O3 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i014 [16][17][20][21]
Pyrocatechol C6H6O2 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i015 [16][17][20][21]
Pyrogallol C6H3(OH)3 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i016 [16][17][20][21]
Vanillin C8H8O3 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i017 [16][17][20][21]
4-Hydroxybenzaldehyde C7H6O2 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i018 [16][17][20][21]
3,4-Dihydroxybenzaldehyde C7H6O3 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i019 [16][17][20][21]
Benzoic acid C6H5COOH Marinedrugs 19 00476 i020 [16][17][20][21]
4-Hydroxybenzoic acid C7H6O3 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i021 [16][17][20][21]
p-Anisic acid C8H8O3 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i022 [16][17][20][21]
Vanillic acid C8H8O4 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i023 [16][17][20][21]
Syringic acid C9H10O5 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i024 [16][17][20][21]
Phloretin C15H14O5 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i025 [16][17][20][21]
Phlorizin C21H24O10 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i026 [16][17][20][21]
Palmitic acid C16H32O2 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i027 [22]
Palmitoleic acid C16H30O2 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i028 [22]
Oleic acid C18H34O2 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i029 [22]
Linoleic acid C18H32O2 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i030 [22]
Campesterol C28H48O Marinedrugs 19 00476 i031 [22]
Stigmasterol C29H48O Marinedrugs 19 00476 i032 [22]
β-Sitosterol C29H50O Marinedrugs 19 00476 i033 [22]
Posidozinol C16H32 Marinedrugs 19 00476 i034 [22]

P. oceanica phytocomplex has been shown to exert biological properties attributable to the synergistic action of its secondary metabolites. Latest developments in the field of herbal medicine on the health-promoting properties and benefits that P. oceanica could provide are listed and summarized below.

3. Insights into the Bioactivities of P. oceanica with Potential Human Health Applications

In scientific research, many natural products have found applications in a wide range of fields, including biomedicine. The exploration of new natural marine products with these functional properties is a topic of great current interest for human well-being as the main focus.

The latest biomedical research shows that P. oceanica possesses many potential beneficial properties for human health. Specifically, P. oceanica leaves extract has been shown to have effects on human dermal fibroblast proliferation and collagen production, as well as anti-melanogenic properties and lipolytic properties, attributable to its antioxidant properties [10].

Oxidative stress results from an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and their elimination, and often leads to the onset and/or progression of chronic inflammatory diseases [23]. In this context, P. oceanica leaves extract has been shown to be effective against oxidative stress and the inflammatory process [12]. Furthermore, an in vivo study in mice revealed anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of P. oceanica extract [24].

Other in vitro bioactivity studies have described the ability of a P. oceanica leaves extract to inhibit the migration and invasiveness of cancer cells [13][14] through the autophagy activation [11][14].

Besides, a recent report has shown that P. oceanica extract is suitable for use in nanotechnology. It was found that the development of an appropriate P. oceanica delivery nanosystem offers an approach to improve the bioavailability and/or optimize the solubility and stability of the phytocomplex [13].

Traditionally, the decoction of P. oceanica leaves has been used as a natural remedy for diabetes and hypertension, a role later confirmed by an in vivo animal study [25]. In addition to its anti-diabetic properties, P. oceanica extract was found to inhibit the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in vitro [15].

In conclusion, P. oceanica is a marine plant rich in secondary metabolites that has recently shown some important properties applicable to human health. Overall, P. oceanica showed antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anti-glycation properties and the ability to suppress cancer cell migration as well as activate autophagy (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the potential benefits of P. oceanica phytocomplex in human health.  

Figure 1

A future challenge should include the study of the bioavailability of the secondary metabolites of P. oceanica, and thus the actual beneficial effects on human health to propose this marine plant for potential pharmacological applications.

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/md19090476

References

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  11. Manuela Leri; Matteo Ramazzotti; Marzia Vasarri; Sara Peri; Emanuela Barletta; Carlo Pretti; Donatella Degl’Innocenti; Bioactive Compounds from Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile Impair Malignant Cell Migration through Autophagy Modulation. Marine Drugs 2018, 16, 137, 10.3390/md16040137.
  12. Marzia Vasarri; Manuela Leri; Emanuela Barletta; Matteo Ramazzotti; Riccardo Marzocchini; Donatella Degl'Innocenti; Anti-inflammatory properties of the marine plant Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2019, 247, 112252, 10.1016/j.jep.2019.112252.
  13. Vieri Piazzini; Marzia Vasarri; Donatella Degl’Innocenti; Asia Guastini; Emanuela Barletta; Maria Cristina Salvatici; Maria Camilla Bergonzi; Comparison of Chitosan Nanoparticles and Soluplus Micelles to Optimize the Bioactivity of Posidonia oceanica Extract on Human Neuroblastoma Cell Migration. Pharmaceutics 2019, 11, 655, 10.3390/pharmaceutics11120655.
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