Composition of Fatty Acids in Evaluation of Sea Cucumber Potency for Nutraceutical Product Development
Abstract: Unsaturated fatty
acid in food has an effect to improve human health, while saturated fatty acid
has the opposite impact. Ratio between both types of fatty acids is important
to evaluate the biological material for nutraceutical product development. This
paper aimed to evaluate the nutraceutical potency of sea cucumber from Kendari
Bay Waters, South East Sulawesi, based on their fatty acids composition. The
analysis was conducted by the 1H-NMR (Hidrogen-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance)
method. Several species within 4 genera (Holothuria, Bohadschia, Actinopyga,
and Stichopus) were selected as the subject of the study. Comparison of fatty
acid composition has been done in genera level, the preliminary study found
that variation between species among the same genera was insignificant (p
>0.05). Results of the study detected that Holothuria contained with an even
ratio of Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) and Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA),
but Actinopyga was detected with low PUFA/SFA ratio. It may suggest that Holothuria
from this region is the most potential raw material for nutraceutical product
development. Meanwhile, precaution is needed for genera that contained with low
PUFA/SFA ratio. Furthermore, comparison with other studies detected that fatty
acids composition is not morphological specific, but vary, according to food
viability, environmental and geographic location. Therefore, preliminary
screening is important in evaluation of sea cucumber material for nutraceutical
product development.
Keywords: 1H-NMR, fatty acids,
sea cucumber, nutraceutical
Author: Rini Susilowati, Asri
Pratitis, Hedi Indra Januar
Journal Code: jpperikanangg160034
