فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Algae are a diverse group of photosynthetic organisms. Besides oxygen production, they contain various compounds that give them nutritional, industrial, and pharmaceutical applications. In spite of the long history of using algae for medicinal purposes, there is no comprehensive information on medicinal algae in the literature. The aim of this review was to provide a systematic list of algae with medicinal properties. We reviewed more than 480 references. The studied algae were listed in a Table according to the systematic classification. General information on the algae phyla was presented and the medicinal taxa of each phylum were discussed. Results showed that about 500 algal taxa have medicinal potential, most of them are macroscopic and belong to the class Rhodophyta, followed by Phaeophyta and Chlorophyta. Gracilaria from Rhodophyta, Sargassum from Phaeophyta and Caulerpa from Chlorophyta are the genera having more taxa with medicinal properties. Asparagopsis armata, Jania rubens, Porphyra haitanensis, Porphyra yezoensis (Rhodophyta); Ascophyllum nodosum, Ecklonia cava, Fucus vesiculosus, Laminaria japonica, Sargassum fusiforme (Syn: Hizikia fusiformis), Sargassum horneri, Sargassum pallidum, Sargassum siliquastrum, Undaria pinnatifida (Phaeophyta); Codium fragile and Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta) are the most cited taxa with various therapeutic effects. Their therapeutic effects are related to their polysaccharides, amino acids, fatty acids, pigments and some other compounds. However, it seems more clinical trials have to be done to confirm their applicability in some special disease.