Sea cucumbers, belonging to the class Holothuroidea, are marine invertebrates, habitually found in the benthic areas and deep seas across the world. They have high commercial value coupled with increasing global production and trade. Sea cucumbers, informally named as beche-de-mer, or gamat, have long been used for food and folk medicine in the communities of Asia and Middle East. Nutritionally, sea cucumbers have an impressive profile of valuable nutrients such as Vitamin A, Vitamin B1 (thiamine), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (niacin), and minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc. A number of unique biological and pharmacological activities including anti-angiogenic, anticancer, anticoagulant, anti-hypertension, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antithrombotic, antitumor and wound healing have been ascribed to various species of sea cucumbers. Therapeutic properties and medicinal benefits of sea cucumbers can be linked to the presence of a wide array of bioactives especially triterpene glycosides (saponins), chondroitin sulfates, glycosaminoglycan (GAGs), sulfated polysaccharides, sterols (glycosides and sulfates), phenolics, cerberosides, lectins, peptides, glycoprotein, glycosphingolipids and essential fatty acids. This review is mainly designed to cover the high-value components and bioactives as well as the multiple biological and therapeutic properties of sea cucumbers with regard to exploring their potential uses for functional foods and nutraceuticals.

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High-Value Components and Bioactives from Sea Cucumbers for Functional Foods—A Review

Fish and shellfish are widely available foods that provide important nutrients, particularly n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs), to many populations globally. These nutrients, especially docosahexaenoic acid, confer benefits to brain and visual system development in infants and reduce risks of certain forms of heart disease in adults. However, fish and shellfish can also be a major source of methylmercury (MeHg), a known neurotoxicant that is particularly harmful to fetal brain development. This review documents the latest knowledge on the risks and benefits of seafood consumption for perinatal development of infants. It is possible to choose fish species that are both high in n-3 PUFAs and low in MeHg. A framework for providing dietary advice for women of childbearing age on how to maximize the dietary intake of n-3 PUFAs while minimizing MeHg exposures is suggested.

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Balancing the benefits of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the risks of methylmercury exposure from fish consumption

Skin infections caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi are difficult to treat by conventional topical administration because of poor drug penetration across the stratum corneum This results in low bioavailability of drugs to the infection site, as well as the lack of prolonged release Emerging antimicrobial transdermal and ocular microneedle patches have become promising medical devices for the delivery of various antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral therapeutics In the present review, skin anatomy and its barriers along with skin infection are discussed Potential strategies for designing antimicrobial microneedles and their targeted therapy are outlined Finally, biosensing microneedle patches associated with personalized drug therapy and selective toxicity toward specific microbial species are discussed

Advances in Antimicrobial Microneedle Patches for Combating Infections.

Wound healing is a complex process of recovering the forms and functions of injured tissues. The process is tightly regulated by multiple growth factors and cytokines released at the wound site. Any alterations that disrupt the healing processes would worsen the tissue damage and prolong repair process. Various conditions may contribute to impaired wound healing, including infections, underlying diseases and medications. Numerous studies on the potential of natural products with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial and pro-collagen synthesis properties as wound healing agents have been performed. Their medicinal properties can be contributed by the content of bioactive phytochemical constituents such as alkaloids, essential oils, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, and phenolic compounds in the natural products. This review highlights the in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies on wound healing promotions by the selected natural products and the mechanisms involved.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/11/2360/pdf

Wound Healing Properties of Selected Natural Products.

https://sciencedev.net/Docs/Food_chemistry_Farhat_Paper.pdf

Chemical compositions and fatty acid profiles of three freshwater fish species

The antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of aqueous and organic extracts from three sea cucumber species Holothuria scabra, Holothuria leucospilota and Stichopus chloronotus were studied. The result showed that aqueous extract of H. leucospilota contains the highest level of total phenols (9.7 mg GAE/g), while the lowest level was obtained from organic extract of H. scabra (1.53 mg GAE/g). An aqueous extract of S. chloronotus was the most efficient extract in scavenging of DPPH free radical, giving IC50 = 2.13 mg/ml. The aqueous extracts (50mg/ml) of H. scabra, H. leucospilota and S. chloronotus exhibited high antioxidant activities (77.46%, 64.03% and 80.58%, respectively) against linoleic acid free radical. Only an aqueous extract of S. chloronotus inhibited growth of C33A (human cervical cancer) and A549 (human non-small lung carcinoma) cancer cells, giving IC50 equal to 10.0 µg/ml and 28.0 µg/ml, respectively. On the other hand, the dose dependent antiproliferative effects of all organic extracts studied were observed on C33A and A549 cancer cells. This study, therefore, revealed that all the three species of Malaysian sea cucumber are potential sources of natural antioxidant and anticancer agents.

In vitro antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of three Malaysian sea cucumber species

Total lipid contents and fatty acid composition of 13 marine fish species namely, "jenahak" (Lutianus agentimaculatus), "kebasi" (Anadontostoma chacunda), "duri" (Arius cumatranus), "tenggiri batang" (Scomberomorus commersoni), "kembong" (Rastrelliger kanagurta), "kintan" or "sebalah" (Psettodes crumei), "kerisi" (Pristipomodes typus), "kerapu" (Epinephelus sexfasciatus), "gelama kling" (Sciaena dussumieri), "malong" (Congresax talabon), "laban" (Cynoglossus lingua), "yu 9" (Scolidon sorrakowah) and "bagi" (Aacnthurs nigrosis) commonly found in Pulau Tuba, one of the islands surrounding the popular tourist destination Langkawi in Malaysia were determined. All fish showed a considerable amount of unsaturated fatty acids particularly those with 4, 5 and 6 double bonds. Two physiologically important n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), i.e. eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docasahaexaenoic acid (DHA), made up of more than 50% of the total PUFAs. For saturated fatty acids, palmitic was found to be the major one in all types of fish studied. Based on DHA, EPA and arachidonic acid (AA) contents, "gelama kling" was found to be the best source (23, 11 and 7%, respectively) followed by "kerapu" (21, 10, 9%) and "sebalah" (19, 14, 4%).

Fatty acid profiles of fin fish in Langkawi Island, Malaysia.

The consequence of the increased demand due to the population expansion has put tremendous pressure on the natural supply of fruits. Hence, there is an unprecedented growing interest in the exploration of the potentials of underutilized fruits as alternatives to the commercially available fruits. Baccaurea angulata is an underutilized fruit widely distributed in Borneo Island of Malaysia. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of B. angulata whole fruit (WF), skin (SK) and pulp (PL) juices on malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and antioxidant enzymes in rabbits fed high-cholesterol diet.
 Thirty-six male rabbits of New Zealand strain were randomly assigned to six groups. Rabbits were fed either a standard pellet (group NC) or a high-cholesterol diet (groups HC, PC, WF, SK and PL). Groups WF, SK and PL were also given 1 ml/kg/day B. angulata WF, SK and PL juices, respectively. Baccaurea angulata had high antioxidant activities. The administration of the various juices significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the concentration of induced plasma MDA. The decrease in the SOD, GPx, CAT and TAC levels caused by cholesterol feeding was also ameliorated with B. angulata. Our results show that B. angulata fruit is beneficial in positively influencing and managing oxidative damage.

Baccaurea angulata fruit inhibits lipid peroxidation and induces the increase in antioxidant enzyme activities

Sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) are regarded as an important part of Malaysia’s marine heritage due to their diversity and commercial value. Several ecological studies have been conducted aimed at documenting the distribution of sea cucumbers in Malaysia. It is estimated that more than 80 species of sea cucumber are present in Malaysia. Nevertheless, a large number of undetermined species have been recorded, thus requiring further research to update the species identification. Molecular approaches are capable of providing insights into the phylogeny of sea
cucumbers and can support the outcomes of traditional morphological approaches, and a number of molecular ecological studies have been recorded in Malaysia since 1999.

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An update on diversity of sea cucumber (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) in Malaysia

This study aims to document species presence and distribution of sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) in Malaysia. Several coral reef habitats in Peninsular Malaysia, West Malaysia and Sabah, East Malaysia were selected as study sites. In summary, the present data showed the presence of 50 species of sea cucumbers from three orders and seven genera, with 34 species require further species identification. It was found that Order Aspidochirotida in general and genus Holothuria in particular were the major species classes. The most dominant species in Malaysia was Holothuria leucospilota. As many as 37 species were found in Sabah, 21 species were recorded in Peninsular Malaysia and 10 species were present in both regions. Of 15 Actinopyga species, 14 species recorded were from Sabah. These findings may be due to the extensive distribution of coral reefs and low level of marine pollution. However, the possibility of biogeography factors within and out of the Sunda Platform area cannot be ruled out. In contrast, low level of species diversity was observed in few study sites in Peninsular Malaysia especially in Langkawi Island possibly due to anthropogenic threats. Future studies including more study sites and molecular phylogeny are to be incorporated in order to obtain better view on the presence and distribution of sea cucumbers in Malaysia.

/pdf/coral-reef-sea-cucumbers-in-malaysia-3zkclyy7a0.pdf

Ridzwan Hashim

Papers

In vitro antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of three Malaysian sea cucumber species

Fatty acid profiles of fin fish in Langkawi Island, Malaysia.

Baccaurea angulata fruit inhibits lipid peroxidation and induces the increase in antioxidant enzyme activities

An update on diversity of sea cucumber (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) in Malaysia

Coral Reef Sea Cucumbers in Malaysia