Threat and gain: The metabolites of the red algae genus Acanthophora

The unexploited red algae Acanthophora is intriguing since some species of which are invasive and pose a threat to their new ecosystem. The algae express potent effects due to possessing a diversity of metabolites. Additionally, their crude extracts were intensively investigated. This review is interested in discussing the effects of the extracts and chemical structures of the isolated bioactive metabolites of the genus Acanthophora. Several classes of metabolites as steroids, alkaloids, and flavonoids, were documented. Polysaccharides, their derivatives, and fatty acids were also discussed. The standard protocols detected broad classes of metabolites. Nevertheless, the description of tannins, saponin, and terpenoids was missing in the further fractionation and structure elucidation. The crude extracts and their fractions showed bioactivities, including anticancer, antimicrobial, antivirus, antioxidant, and anticoagulant. The reported studies were limited to some species of Acanthophora, it is considered an opening the gate to do exploration of the other species.