The brown alga, Cladosiphon okamuranus TOKIDA, was found to contain a large amount of free fatty acid (45% of the total lipids). A crude enzyme preparation from the alga showed activity for hydrolyzing the acyl groups of various glycerolipids. The results suggest that the free fatty acid in C. okamuranus was released mainly from glycoglycerolipids, which were the major lipid components in the alga, by such glycerolipid acyl hydrolases as galactolipase.
