*Received: 10 March 2014; in revised form: 14 April 2014 / Accepted: 17 April 2014 / Published: 17 June 2014*

**Abstract:** Siphonaxanthin is a specific keto-carotenoid in green algae whose bio-functional properties are yet to be identified. This review focuses on siphonaxanthin as a bioactive compound and outlines the evidence associated with functionality. Siphonaxanthin has been reported to potently inhibit the viability of human leukemia HL-60 cells via induction of apoptosis. In comparison with fucoxanthin, siphonaxanthin markedly reduced cell viability as early as 6 h after treatment. The cellular uptake of siphonaxanthin was 2-fold higher than fucoxanthin. It has been proposed that siphonaxanthin possesses significant anti-angiogenic activity in studies using human umbilical vein endothelial cells and rat aortic ring. The results of these studies suggested that the anti-angiogenic effect of siphonaxanthin is due to the downregulation of signal transduction by fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 in vascular endothelial cells. Siphonaxanthin also exhibited inhibitory effects on antigen-induced degranulation of mast cells. These findings open up new avenues for future research on siphonaxanthin as a bioactive  compound, and additional investigation, especially *in vivo* studies, are required to validate these findings. In addition, further studies are needed to determine its bioavailability and metabolic fate. 

**Keywords:** angiogenesis; apoptosis; carotenoid; inflammation; green algae; siphonaxanthin 
