Bioactive products of cyanobacteria and microalgae as valuable dietary and medicinal supplements

Cyanobacteria and microalgae have great potential to produce a wide variety of biotoxic and non-toxic biologically active compounds and could lead to the development of the food and pharmaceutical industries soon. The commercial proliferation of algae on a large scale is due to their ability to produce a wide range of valuable secondary metabolites such as polyunsaturated monounsaturated fatty acids, polysaccharides, glycerol, glycoproteins, antioxidant compounds, and antibiotics. Today, with the potential spread of bacterial resistance and reduced efficacy of existing antibiotics, researchers are looking to find new antibiotics among the products produced by microalgae. However, many cyanobacterial strains contain toxic compounds that cause the death of many humans and animals. In this review article, an attempt has been made to introduce valuable biologically active products along with various types of cyanotoxins in foods and treatment methods by collecting the latest research. It is hoped that the results of this study could pave the way for the introduction of valuable metabolites produced by cyanobacteria and microalgae in the food and pharmaceutical industries.