Preparation of Sea Cucumber (Holothuria scabra) Powder: Effect of Pre-treatment on Its Nutritional, Antioxidant Activity and Morphological Characteristics

Abstract

Sea cucumber (Holothuria scabra) has a prospect of being one of the nutritious ingredients because it contains complete nutrients, including carbohydrates, essential fatty acids and amino acids, as well as several bioactive components that are believed to have functions as antioxidants, antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anticoagulant. The application of sea cucumber products in the food formulation may be expanded if it is made in the form of powder. This study was aimed to evaluate the application of three pre-treatment in preparing sea cucumber powder, and evaluated the effects on its nutritional content, antioxidant activity, and morphological properties. Three different types of ingredients, namely yam (Dioscorea hispidia Dennst) tuber extract, NaHCO3 solution, and papaya leaf extract, were added to the fresh sea cucumbers. Then, they were heated at 70 o C for 20 minutes in sea water, smoked, dried, and ground into powder. The results showed that the nutritional content of sea cucumber flour that was given papaya leaves extract had a higher protein content (59.33%) and higher ash content (14.71%) compared to the other treatments. The pre-treatment with papaya leaves extract had also given the strongest antioxidant activity. The morphological characteristics were observed with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).