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Marine algae in pharmaceutical science
Aquatic Botany, 16 (1983) 399--401 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands
399
Book Redew MARINE ALGAE AND PHARMACY
Marine Algae in Pharmaceutical Science, Heinz A. Hoppe, Tore Levring and Yukio Tanaka (Editors}, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York, 1979, xiv + 807 pp., DM 1 7 9 . 0 0 / U S $ 1 0 0 . 0 0 , ISBN 3-11-007375-0. This volume brings to the public a b o o k containing 34 o u t of 59 papers given in a very popular adjunct to the 1977 IXth International Seaweed S y m p o s i u m (ISS). This adjunct seems destined to b e c o m e a tradition of the International Seaweed Association's 30-year old s y m p o s i u m sponsorship. It was through the energies of the late Prof. Tore Lewting, one of the editors of the present volume and then Director of the Marine Botanical Institute in the University complex at Goteborg, Sweden, that this pharmacological s y m p o s i u m came to be held. Incidentally, Dr. Levring served b o t h as chairman of the hosting c o m m i t t e e for the Xth ISS, held in 1980 at the University o f G o t e b o r g , Goteborg, Sweden, and as editor for its Proceedings. Dr. Levring (b. 2 1 / 9 / 1 9 1 3 ; d. 3 0 / 1 / 1 9 8 2 ) is appreciated and well remembered for many such activities. The Proceedings o f the pharmaceutical section ('section' being used here to reduce redundancy) were divided into three parts as follows: 1. General Reviews (261 pp.); 2. Articles on Special Constituents of Marine Algae (339 pp.}, and 3. Articles on Selected Algae and Algal Products (151 pp.). These parts are s o m e w h a t strained amalgamations in many instances. Yet many of the papers are most interesting or uniquely useful. Others are simple technique papers, sometimes describing already well k n o w n and well published methods. Even ecology creeps in and some papers were admitted, surely o u t o f the goodness o f the editors' hearts. In at least one case, the author was n o t known to have been at the s y m p o s i u m at all! Among the most interesting papers in Part I of the text, is that b y Der Maderosian, for it points o u t many of the pharmaceutical possibilities to be found in micro-algae, the ecological group most k n o w n as the base of the open ocean food chain and as the food source for most of the world's p o n d fisheries. Three other categories of largely useful information were included in Der Maderosian's paper: (1) annotated bibliography on the history of development of interest in the pharmaceutical uses of algae; (2) a very brief note on benthic algal pharmaceutical science, and lastly (3) algal uses in pollution control. Some like Kazutosi Nishizawa's detailed review of pharmaceutical work on marine algae in Japan will be appreciated b y many for, of the 44 papers reviewed, 29 were published in Japanese and, thus, would not be otherwise available to most readers. The review b y Oliver J. McConnell and William Fenical (p. 403 ff.) of antimicrobial agents found in members of the red algal family Bonnemaisonia-
400 ceae is b u t one o f perhaps the ten best. It can only be h o p e d that other similar r~sum~s of physiologically-active principles can be included in future symposia of the International Seaweed Association such that its reputation, or that of its ISS series, can be wheedled away from its, at one time almost total, concentration on algal hydrocolloids. Among the articles in Part I, G. Michanek (p. 207 ff.) must be commended for bravely attempting to correct some o f the long standing pieces of misinformation rampant in pharmaceutical science, e.g., he has listed 17 places in the world where he feels Digenia simplex does n o t occur; though reported in the literature from these places, o f t e n b y otherwise reputable authors. At t h e same time the major review articles must be used as annotated bibliographies, rather than b e c o m e used as sources of information directly, because on the whole, t h e y are non-critical at best, introduce new errors or p e r p e t u a t e obvious old ones. For example, from Table 1 on p. 6, one could come away with the idea that sodium ions make up 30.4% of what we call seawater. One paper (p. 29) erroneously reports that caulerpicin is responsible for the p e p p e r y taste of Caulerpa species. This particular very uncritical paper must have been done with a c o m p u t e r or f r o m a card file, e.g., mechanically rather than with knowledgeable integration. On p. 52, the following appears " G u l a m a n is the Philippine name for Agardhiella tenera and incidentally also for Gracilaria lichenoides. Gulamandagat comes from Indonesia." In reality, gulaman is the Tagalog w o r d for agar and other such gels. Guluman-dagat is the seaweed producing the gel. Agardhiella does n o t occur in the Philippines and that the gulaman-dagat of the Tagalog people m a y be Gracilaria lichenoides is distinctly questionable; though it does appear to be a species of Gracilaria. In Tagalog, other seaweeds are called lumut. On p. 143, the extract considered effective against herpes sores is said to be a polysaccharide. This was followed by " T h e extract could be chondriol ( C , s H ~ s B r C 1 0 : ) . . . " . Chondriol is certainly n o t a polysaccharide. The elimination of redundancies and rejecting perhaps ten o f the articles which are hardly acceptable even at the elementary level or largely repeat well k n o w n information, techniques or applications (often inaccurately) could have resulted in perhaps t w e n t y or thirty percent fewer pages and lowered the price significantly. Such a higher quality volume at a more affordable price w o u l d have served the phycological p h a r m a c o l o g y section of the ISS much better. T h r o u g h o u t the b o o k f r o m article to article, there seems to be no uniformity in line spacing or t y p e font. In many places a different and bolder t y p e was used to make textual changes (e.g., pp. 141 and 229 where even margins are disregarded). Sometimes even within themselves (e.g., pp. 222, 223 and 229) these changes e m b o d y typographic errors. In other cases corrections were (e.g., p. 545) merely hand-printed in the page margin. One conclusion from reviewing this volume is that "Pharmaceutical Science," as interpreted b y the editors, deals with a b o u t everything that one
401
can d o with marine algae. Much of it is certainly n o t " p h a r m a c e u t i c a l " in the sense o f either Chamber's " T w e n t i e t h C e n t u r y " or Webster's " N e w Collegiate" dictionaries. An alternative conclusion is t o a c c e p t the v o l u m e as a non,critical c o m p i l a t i o n of papers p r e s e n t e d at a general s y m p o s i u m on algal matters run parallel t o t he ISS at the same time and place . . . a v o l u m e obviously published with no professionally capable editorial t r e a t m e n t or editorial policy. Yet one can glean a great deal a b o u t t he pharmaceutical p o t e n tial and applications o f marine algae f r o m this volume. MAXWELL S. DOTY a n d G E R T R U D E S A. SANTOS
(Botany Department, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, U.S.A.)
399
Book Redew MARINE ALGAE AND PHARMACY
Marine Algae in Pharmaceutical Science, Heinz A. Hoppe, Tore Levring and Yukio Tanaka (Editors}, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York, 1979, xiv + 807 pp., DM 1 7 9 . 0 0 / U S $ 1 0 0 . 0 0 , ISBN 3-11-007375-0. This volume brings to the public a b o o k containing 34 o u t of 59 papers given in a very popular adjunct to the 1977 IXth International Seaweed S y m p o s i u m (ISS). This adjunct seems destined to b e c o m e a tradition of the International Seaweed Association's 30-year old s y m p o s i u m sponsorship. It was through the energies of the late Prof. Tore Lewting, one of the editors of the present volume and then Director of the Marine Botanical Institute in the University complex at Goteborg, Sweden, that this pharmacological s y m p o s i u m came to be held. Incidentally, Dr. Levring served b o t h as chairman of the hosting c o m m i t t e e for the Xth ISS, held in 1980 at the University o f G o t e b o r g , Goteborg, Sweden, and as editor for its Proceedings. Dr. Levring (b. 2 1 / 9 / 1 9 1 3 ; d. 3 0 / 1 / 1 9 8 2 ) is appreciated and well remembered for many such activities. The Proceedings o f the pharmaceutical section ('section' being used here to reduce redundancy) were divided into three parts as follows: 1. General Reviews (261 pp.); 2. Articles on Special Constituents of Marine Algae (339 pp.}, and 3. Articles on Selected Algae and Algal Products (151 pp.). These parts are s o m e w h a t strained amalgamations in many instances. Yet many of the papers are most interesting or uniquely useful. Others are simple technique papers, sometimes describing already well k n o w n and well published methods. Even ecology creeps in and some papers were admitted, surely o u t o f the goodness o f the editors' hearts. In at least one case, the author was n o t known to have been at the s y m p o s i u m at all! Among the most interesting papers in Part I of the text, is that b y Der Maderosian, for it points o u t many of the pharmaceutical possibilities to be found in micro-algae, the ecological group most k n o w n as the base of the open ocean food chain and as the food source for most of the world's p o n d fisheries. Three other categories of largely useful information were included in Der Maderosian's paper: (1) annotated bibliography on the history of development of interest in the pharmaceutical uses of algae; (2) a very brief note on benthic algal pharmaceutical science, and lastly (3) algal uses in pollution control. Some like Kazutosi Nishizawa's detailed review of pharmaceutical work on marine algae in Japan will be appreciated b y many for, of the 44 papers reviewed, 29 were published in Japanese and, thus, would not be otherwise available to most readers. The review b y Oliver J. McConnell and William Fenical (p. 403 ff.) of antimicrobial agents found in members of the red algal family Bonnemaisonia-
400 ceae is b u t one o f perhaps the ten best. It can only be h o p e d that other similar r~sum~s of physiologically-active principles can be included in future symposia of the International Seaweed Association such that its reputation, or that of its ISS series, can be wheedled away from its, at one time almost total, concentration on algal hydrocolloids. Among the articles in Part I, G. Michanek (p. 207 ff.) must be commended for bravely attempting to correct some o f the long standing pieces of misinformation rampant in pharmaceutical science, e.g., he has listed 17 places in the world where he feels Digenia simplex does n o t occur; though reported in the literature from these places, o f t e n b y otherwise reputable authors. At t h e same time the major review articles must be used as annotated bibliographies, rather than b e c o m e used as sources of information directly, because on the whole, t h e y are non-critical at best, introduce new errors or p e r p e t u a t e obvious old ones. For example, from Table 1 on p. 6, one could come away with the idea that sodium ions make up 30.4% of what we call seawater. One paper (p. 29) erroneously reports that caulerpicin is responsible for the p e p p e r y taste of Caulerpa species. This particular very uncritical paper must have been done with a c o m p u t e r or f r o m a card file, e.g., mechanically rather than with knowledgeable integration. On p. 52, the following appears " G u l a m a n is the Philippine name for Agardhiella tenera and incidentally also for Gracilaria lichenoides. Gulamandagat comes from Indonesia." In reality, gulaman is the Tagalog w o r d for agar and other such gels. Guluman-dagat is the seaweed producing the gel. Agardhiella does n o t occur in the Philippines and that the gulaman-dagat of the Tagalog people m a y be Gracilaria lichenoides is distinctly questionable; though it does appear to be a species of Gracilaria. In Tagalog, other seaweeds are called lumut. On p. 143, the extract considered effective against herpes sores is said to be a polysaccharide. This was followed by " T h e extract could be chondriol ( C , s H ~ s B r C 1 0 : ) . . . " . Chondriol is certainly n o t a polysaccharide. The elimination of redundancies and rejecting perhaps ten o f the articles which are hardly acceptable even at the elementary level or largely repeat well k n o w n information, techniques or applications (often inaccurately) could have resulted in perhaps t w e n t y or thirty percent fewer pages and lowered the price significantly. Such a higher quality volume at a more affordable price w o u l d have served the phycological p h a r m a c o l o g y section of the ISS much better. T h r o u g h o u t the b o o k f r o m article to article, there seems to be no uniformity in line spacing or t y p e font. In many places a different and bolder t y p e was used to make textual changes (e.g., pp. 141 and 229 where even margins are disregarded). Sometimes even within themselves (e.g., pp. 222, 223 and 229) these changes e m b o d y typographic errors. In other cases corrections were (e.g., p. 545) merely hand-printed in the page margin. One conclusion from reviewing this volume is that "Pharmaceutical Science," as interpreted b y the editors, deals with a b o u t everything that one
401
can d o with marine algae. Much of it is certainly n o t " p h a r m a c e u t i c a l " in the sense o f either Chamber's " T w e n t i e t h C e n t u r y " or Webster's " N e w Collegiate" dictionaries. An alternative conclusion is t o a c c e p t the v o l u m e as a non,critical c o m p i l a t i o n of papers p r e s e n t e d at a general s y m p o s i u m on algal matters run parallel t o t he ISS at the same time and place . . . a v o l u m e obviously published with no professionally capable editorial t r e a t m e n t or editorial policy. Yet one can glean a great deal a b o u t t he pharmaceutical p o t e n tial and applications o f marine algae f r o m this volume. MAXWELL S. DOTY a n d G E R T R U D E S A. SANTOS
(Botany Department, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, U.S.A.)