Frontiers in Marine Science (Jun 2014)
Sea Cucumber: New source of Protein for Human Consumption
Abstract
Aquaculture, probably the fastest growing food-producing sector, now accounts for nearly 50 percent of the world's food fish consumed by humans, and this share is expected to increase further to meet future demand. Sea cucumbers are considered highly marketable product and this has resulted in an increasing overfishing of natural sea cucumber stocks. Nevertheless, these resources are almost unexploited in the Mediterranean region. Many species of holothurians have been recognized as an alternative source of first quality protein and considered a putative functional food, like hypocholesterolemic proprieties and contain many other bioactive compounds. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine and compare the protein content of two sea cucumber species, Holothuria forskali and Stichopus regalis. The Kjeldahl method was used to determine the crude protein through the measurement of nitrogen amount in each sample. The obtained results demonstrated that both species contain high protein levels, with higher results for S. regalis, which revealed values between 19,1% and 20,4%. H. forskali showed a protein level among 12,1% and 15,4%. Holothurian protein levels reveal great potential for human consumption. Those resources can be used as a partial substitute of fish meal (eg. sea bream nutrition), either to intern market as well as for exportation to Asian countries. Sea cucumber farming could have lucrative potential in the Mediterranean, converting sea cucumbers into aquaculture value-added products bringing to this region profitable economic benefits.
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