Compositional Characteristics and Antioxidant Properties of Fresh and Processed Sea Cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa)

Abstract

The antioxidant activity of fresh and rehydrated sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) samples with/without internal organs was evaluated for the first time. In addition, their proximate, amino acid, and fatty acid compositions were examined. Rehydrated sea cucumber samples in distilled water were prepared from oven-dried products. All samples contained 83-90% moisture, but showed a significant difference among groups in their protein and lipid contents. Glutamic acid was the predominant amino acid in sea cucumber, followed by glycine and aspartic acid. Essential amino acids such as leucine and lysine were also present at high levels. The trend for free amino acid was different from that of total amino acids and varied among groups. Lipids in sea cucumber were dominated by eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5n-3), ranging from 43.2 to 56.7% of the total fatty acids. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6n-3) was present at a much lower concentration of 2.0-5.8%. All sea cucumber samples exhibited radical scavenging property against 2,2'-azobis(2-aminopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals, with rehydrated samples, especially those with internal organs, possessing higher antioxidant activity than their fresh counterparts. No correlation existed between radical scavenging capacity and total phenolics content, suggesting that other components, in addition to phenolic compounds, contribute to the antioxidant activity of sea cucumber.

Proximate composition of marine invertebrates from tropical coastal waters, with emphasis on the relationship between nitrogen and protein contents

“…Holothuria grisea showed ca. twice more lipid than the sea cucumber Cucumaria frondosa analized by Zhong et al (2007). Total lipid of H. grisea was slightly higher than the lipid content (8% dw) recorded by Betchel et al (2013) in the giant red sea cucumber Parastichopus californicus, and similar to the contents reported by Wen et al (2010) for Thelenota anax (9.9% dw) and Actinopyga caerulea (10.1% dw), two edible sea cucumbers from China.…”

Comparison of Fatty Acid and Proximate Composition between <i>Holothuria edulis</i> and <i>Holothuria scabra</i> Collected from Coastal Water of Sabah, Malaysia

“…Normally the moisture content in most of the sea cucumbers were in the range of 84% to 91% [24], 83% to 86% in Isostichopus sp [34], 81% to 85% for H. tubulusa [9], even higher than present study as reported 89% to 90% in Parastichopus sp [35] and 87% to 90% in Cucumaria frondosa [31]. Moisture percentages in various studies can be link to due to collection time of year, environmental factors, geographical variations and feeding behaviour of respective species [35].…”

“…Parastichopus californicus, a cold water species that harvested in Alaska had higher EPA (22.60%) and lower ARA (7.10%) [7]. EPA constituted for 46.10% in body wall of fresh Cucumaria frondosa, the orange-footed sea cucumber, a temperate species in North-Atlantic Ocean [31]. Fatty acid composition on abyssal sea cucumbers, Abyssocucumis abyssorum, Peniagone vitrea and Protankyra brychia, also reported lower ARA compared to EPA [32].…”

Comparison of Fatty Acid Composition of Wild and Cultured Sea Cucumber Apostichopus japonicus

“…(Chen, 2005). , , (Liu et al, 1984;Fredalina et al, 1999;Hankenson et al, 2000;Sun et al, 1991), (Fredalina et al, 1999;Zhong et al, 2007 ). 3 , 25 (Bousquet et al, 2008).…”