Abstract:
Five different varieties of marine red algae : Gelidiella acerosa, Gracilaria corticata,
Gelidium crinale, Jania sp. and Gracilaria sp3, were collected from coastal waters of
Southern Sri Lanka and extracted with 1:1 methanol- methylene chloride. Resulting crude
extracts (CE), those which had a yield of > 2 g/kg : Gracilaria corticata, Gelidiella
acerosa and Jania sp were coprecipitated with polyvinylpyrrolidone and tested for post
coital contraceptive activity in pregnant rats at doses of 500 and 1000 mg/kg/ml/day
through oral intubation from day 1 to day 7 of pregnancy.
