Sargassum, the Caribbean’s gold mine

The secondary metabolites found in plant extracts have numerous properties of interest in a wide range of fields: pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agri-food and chemistry! Products from the plant world have long been used to protect metals from corrosion (animal and vegetable fats, tannin extracts). These natural extracts contain numerous families of natural organic compounds (flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, etc.) that are "ecological", readily available and renewable. For example, sargassum (a brown macrophyte from the Fucaceae family), rich in organic matter, can be considered a promising natural source of biodegradable, corrosion-inhibiting molecules. Easily accessible and available, sargassum currently occupies an important place in Martinique's marine landscape, as a result of massive invasions over the last decade. In addition, the choice of inhibitors derived from sargassum opens up new avenues of use for this seaweed.