Seaweeds, spanning brown, red, and green varieties, have emerged as valuable and renewable marine resources with significant promise for sustainable biotechnology and pharmaceutical development. They are rich in structurally diverse bioactive compounds, such as sulphated polysaccharides, phlorotannins, pigments, sterols, and essential fatty acids, that exhibit therapeutic properties like anticancer, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective effects, and antimicrobial. This review covers recent developments in the areas of eco-friendly cultivation, such as integrated multi-trophic aquaculture, and extraction technologies. Extraction technologies, like enzymeassisted, supercritical fluid, and ultrasound-assisted methods, have beneficially improved yields while preserving natural bioactivity and lowering environmental impacts. The use of seaweed biorefineries makes it easier to convert the harvested biomass into various high-value products such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, biofertilizers, and bioplastics. The life cycle analysis has shown that the use of seaweed production systems decreases greenhouse gas emissions, saves water, and is more cost-effective compared to the conventional production method. Notwithstanding the differences in challenges posed by standardization, scalability, and regulatory compatibility, the innovations in genetic engineering, synthetic biology, and AI processing hold great promise for optimizing productivity and market adoption. Such innovations place seaweed biotechnology at the forefront of sustainable green manufacturing.
Chowdhury et al. (Wed,) studied this question.