The importance of food bioactive compounds as functional ingredients has been well recognized due the effectiveness in promoting health and lead to the reduction of disease risk. Especially, nutraceuticals from seaweeds have been served as a rich source of health-promoting components. Among them, marine brown algae are a rich source of natural bioactive compounds, mainly phlorotannins and this fact implies its potential as a functional ingredient in the food products, pharmaceuticals, and cosmeceuticals. This review presents an overview of phlorotannins from marine brown algae with their health beneficial biological activities. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.