ABSTRACT
Nemacystus decipiens
and
Cladosiphon okamuranus
and red algae of the genus
Gracilaria
. Not many species of seaweed are widely known among folk remedies. A
Chinese booklet, the title of which may be translated as “Medicinal Marine Organisms of the South Sea,” published in 1978 by Ocean Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Science lists 38 species of algae. Among them the bestknown medicinal seaweed is perhaps
Digenea simplex
, an anthelmintic drug widely used in Asia over many centuries. This alga and the related
Chondria armata
are among a few species whose active ingredients have been fully identified, because these active constituents, known collectively as
kainoids
, are
neurotoxins
.
