Toxins associated with medicinal and edible seaweeds are reviewed with an e
mphasis on chemistry. The red alga Digenea simplex has been used for the tr
eatment of roundworm disease for centuries. Its active principle is kainic
acid (1). The related domoic acid (3) is a constituent of another red alga,
Chondria armata, used for the same purpose. These compounds known as kaino
ids are potent neurotoxins and excitatory amino acids. Kainoids are importa
nt tools in neurophysiological research. Domoic acids are also produced by
diatoms and were responsible for the shellfish poisonings known as amnesic
shellfish poisonings which occurred in Canada in 1987. Caulerpin (13) and C
aulerpicin (15) have been described as toxic constituents of edible species
of the green algal genus Caulerpa, but evidences in later studies indicate
that they have no acute toxicity. Caulerpin, which has a structure related
to auxin, promotes plant growth. Caulerpenyne (16), a toxic constituent of
Caulerpa taxifolia and other inedible species, has been evaluated for its
ecotoxicological effect in the Mediterranean where C. taxifolia bloomed exp
losively. Three different classes of compounds have been identified in the
poisonings with species in the genus Gracilaria. They are prostaglandin E-2
(17) from G. verrucosa in Japan, aplysiatoxins and related compounds (19-2
3) from G. coronopifolia in Hawaii, and polycavernosides (26-30) from G. ts
udai in Guam.