关键词: 甾体化合物, 化学结构, 生物活性, sterols, chemical construction, biological activity

Abstract: With marine species abundant, the sea offers enormous resources for structurally diverse natural compounds with various beneficial biological activities. Therefore, increasing knowledge on novel functional ingredients with biological activities from marine organisms has gained much attention. Marine organisms have proven to be a rich source of sterols. Additionally, sterols have been suggested to have anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral activities. This article focuses on purification methods, biogenetic derivation, chemical construction and biological activity of sterols in order to provide reference for marine medicinal development.