Echinoderms

Class Sea Cucumbers
Species Prastichopus tremulus, Cucumaria frondosa
Metabolites Saponins, Holothuroidins and/or other microbial peptides
Bio-activity Antimicrobial bioactivity

Why Sea Cucumbers?

Sea cucumbers exhibit potential as a source for the continuous production of bioactive compounds. Recent advancements in cell culture techniques, particularly from regenerating sea cucumber intestines like Apostichopus japonicus and Holothuria glaberrima, have provided valuable insights into long-term cell maintenance. Optimization of growth media, incorporating factors like sea cucumber coelomic fluid and mammalian growth factors, alongside attention to microbial contamination, has been pivotal. Moreover, the extracellular matrix composition of sea cucumbers, rich in collagens, proteoglycans, and glycoproteins, offers a conducive environment for cell growth and metabolite production.

What can they be used for?

Sea cucumbers have been a food and health remedy source for human society for centuries. Sea cucumber species are a unique source of health-promoting compounds with nutritional and pharmacological value. Besides collagen, bioactive polysaccharides, saponins, and phospholipids they contain peptides, gelatin, and gangliosides, showing various biological activities. Some bioactive compounds have been carefully studied, like frondoside A in Cucumaria frondosa, and have immense medical potential. As such, the market potential for northern sea cucumbers is vast. Also, they contain amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and an important amount of carotenoids. It is clear from the available scientific data that the exploitation potentials of North Atlantic sea cucumber products as functional ingredients in the field of health care, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals are immense.

The most common commercial species found in the North Pacific Ocean are Apostichopus californicus, Cucumaria frondosa, and Parastichopus parvimensis and the dominant commercially fished species in the North Atlantic Ocean is C. frondosa. Other species in the North Atlantic Ocean that are considered of commercial interest are Parastichopus regalis, P. tremulus, Holothuria mammata, H. tubulosa, H. arguinensis, H. glaberrima, and Holothuria forskali, due to existing traditional fisheries and consumption or initiated aquaculture production.1

1Miroslava R. Atanassova, Lisa Kolden Midtbo, Jennifer Mildenberger, Ólafur H. Friðjónsson. Chapter 37 - Novel biomaterials and biotechnological applications derived from North Atlantic sea cucumbers: A systematic review. Editor(s): Annie Mercier, Jean-François Hamel, Andrew D. Suhrbier, Christopher M. Pearce, The World of Sea Cucumbers, Academic Press, 2024, Pages 585-609, ISBN 9780323953771, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95377-1.00046-1.)

Who's involved?

A view on Echinoderms