Classification
View: Far Eastern sea cucumber – Apostichopus japonicus
Family: Stichopodidae
Squad: Holothurians thyroid-tentacled
Class: Holothurians
Type: Echinoderms
Subtype: Freely mobile, eleutherozoa
Without rank: Deuterostomes
Sub-kingdom: True multicellular organisms, eumetazoans
Kingdom: Animals
Lifespan: up to 11 years old
Lives in sea depths a creature similar to shellless snails or large, fleshy earthworms. It's called sea cucumber.
But it is not an algae or a type of shell or coral.
This invertebrate creature is scientifically called sea cucumber; the photo will show you an individual completely covered with papillomas.
That is why it belongs to the echinoderm species.
Habitat
Large populations sea cucumbers live near Sakhalin, in eastern Japan, near the coast of Kunashir and Korea, the island of Kyushu, in Peter the Great Bay, Kagoshima and the Kuril Islands.
The sea cucumber tries to choose warm and not deep places; it likes to hide in thickets of seaweed under the cover of mussels or in the upper layer of silt.
During the day it rises to the surface of the water. And the edge itself - favorite place his habitat.
On particularly hot days, it sinks to a depth of a maximum of 150 meters - who would want to be fried in the sun.
Characteristic
Sea cucumber looks like a large worm. Flattened laterally, it grows up to 40 cm in length. Its body essentially consists of two parts:
- On one side there is a mouth and perioral tentacles (20 pieces), with which it scoops up suspensions and the upper loose layer of sediment to send microorganisms contained in the water into the mouth.
- The second part is the natural outlet, that is, the anus.
Inside the sea cucumber, these two parts are connected by the intestines.
This structure is called reduced, that is, many organs and parts of the body that do not have functional value for holothurians, disappeared over time, leaving only the most significant ones.
Interesting! If a sea cucumber is accidentally or deliberately cut into three parts, then the outer parts immediately become independent and crawl away. The middle one lies down for a while and also becomes a living individual, only for the time being short.
Trepang is not afraid aquatic life like and, birds, arthropods, mammals like.
But he has enemies - people and starfish.
Interesting! A frightened or worried sea cucumber gathers into a ball, like a hedgehog, protecting itself with spicules - spines.
Appearance
The body of the sea cucumber is elongated, shaped like a trapezoid, the lower part is slightly flattened.
- Length – maximum 40 - 45 cm
- Width – 8 - 10 cm
- Weight – adults fatten up to 1.5 kg
The back of the sea cucumber is easy to distinguish from the abdominal part. On the abdomen there is an oral cavity surrounded by tentacles, the color is light brown or olive.
The back is darker, often dark green or chocolate, sometimes black.
The skin is dense to the touch, its elasticity is given by a single internal organ - the tubular intestine.
Key Features
On the abdomen there are ambulacral legs, with the help of which the sea cucumber slowly moves along the bottom.
Interesting! The movement of holothurians along the bottom resembles the movement of a caterpillar. The sea cucumber gathers into a ball, moves its tentacles, and attaches itself to the bottom or algae leaves with its back. The front part straightens and finds support, then pulls up back.
Nutrition
Because of internal structure food passes through the continuous intestine.
At the same time, useful substances have time to be absorbed into its walls, the rest comes out through the back part naturally.
In the morning, sea cucumbers sleep and go in search of food in the afternoon or at night.
In autumn and winter, sea cucumbers hardly eat; their appetite awakens in early spring and does not subside until mid-summer.
Interesting! After spawning, sea cucumbers are so weakened that they hibernate, during which they do not move or feed. Then, waking up from it a month later, they literally pounce on food and quickly restore their former shape.
Reproduction
Sea cucumbers have both females and males, but it is impossible to distinguish them by any external characteristics.
Puberty occurs at the age of 2 years and continues for the rest of life.
The time of courtship, and, accordingly, spawning depends on the water temperature:
- Southern coast of Japan – March-April.
- Peter the Great Bay and northern regions- second half of summer.
- Yellow Sea – June.
Holothurians stand on their hind legs, strengthening themselves on a rock ledge or pebble, stretch upward, reminiscent of meerkats in the steppe, and begin to sway towards each other.
Fertilization occurs when the genital openings connect. The female spawns several times over a couple of days, releasing up to 77 million eggs.
Holothurian eggs are metamorphic - larvae immediately emerge from them.
In two years they grow up to 15 cm, going through four stages of development: dipleurula (initial stage), auricularia (early stage) and doliolaria (middle stage) and pentactula (late stage).
Interesting! Sea cucumber is highly valued in Eastern countries. Today you can buy it only on farms where sea cucumbers are artificially grown. Unfortunately, populations in wildlife were almost exterminated by poachers. It was even necessary to pass a law prohibiting the fishing of sea cucumbers from June to September, that is, during the spawning period.
Sea cucumbers live in large herds, but they prefer to move along the bottom alone. And, true, everyone has their own speed and purpose of movement.
Holothurians love warm water, but stoically tolerate negative temperature. But with water quality, everything is different.
If oxygen saturation does not greatly affect their vital activity, then a significant decrease in the concentration of salts in sea water(less than 20 grams of salt per liter of water) threatens the sea cucumber population with death.
The most comfortable environment for them is ocean water with a salt concentration of 35 grams per liter.
IN fresh water Holothurians do not live, they die by turning inside out.
Value
The medicinal properties of sea cucumbers were known back in the 16th century.
Then they were consumed by imperial people to prolong life and improve health.
Due to their extremely valuable composition, they are called “sea ginseng”.
- vitamins and fats;
- phosphorus and iodine;
- magnesium and copper;
- thiamine and riboflavin;
- iron and calcium;
- proteins and manganese;
- fatty acids and phosphatides.
This is the rich composition that sea cucumber can boast of. What do they treat? Many diseases:
- diabetes;
- gastritis, pancreatitis;
- endocrinological diseases;
- constipation;
- mastopathy and uterine fibroids;
- avitaminosis;
- wounds;
- arthritis;
- respiratory and eye diseases;
- prostatitis;
- helminthiasis and a number of other ailments.
Interesting! Trepang, like any other sea reptile, is a powerful aphrodisiac, and therefore copes with sexual disorders.
Asian cooks stew sea cucumbers with herbs and onions, generously seasoning them with spices, drying and pickling them.
Unlike shellfish, sea cucumbers need to be cooked for as long as possible. This makes their meat soft and tender.
As a medicinal product, pharmaceutical companies produce an extract from sea cucumbers infused with honey.
In addition to its medicinal qualities, it is valued for its rejuvenating effect and the ability to quickly heal wounds and scars.
Important!Trepangs should not be eaten by children under 15 years of age, pregnant or lactating women, or people with low blood pressure.
Sea cucumber: a small creature of great significance
Residents of eastern countries found an analogue of land ginseng in the sea - this is the Far Eastern sea cucumber. Due to its properties, sea ginseng is highly valued by both doctors and culinary specialists.
Even in ancient China, sea cucumber was used with honey; with its help, most diseases were cured. After all, the animal itself contains a huge amount of healing components. Healers are convinced that sea cucumber (trepang) with honey can heal seriously ill people who have long lost the incentive to live. Ancient emperors took the extract as an elixir of youth and as a means of prolonging life.
In this article we will talk about what trepang with honey cures, how to take it, learn the main contraindications and medicinal properties.
It has long been believed that Using the extract you can fully restore your strength, and after two months the normalization of all body processes. All thanks to its medicinal qualities. The composition includes most useful substances:
- iron;
- riboflavin;
- fats;
- acids;
- phosphorus;
- magnesium;
- proteins;
- calcium;
- thiamine;
- copper and many others.
Traditional healers advise drinking the drug correctly, and it will retain all its healing properties.
After testing, it was established that this product consists of many chemical elements, which are the main components of cellular tissues. With their help, hormones and enzymes are formed.
The sea animal is compared to ginseng due to its healing qualities. Sea cucumber on Chinese pronunciation is similar to it, and is pronounced “heishen”. It is known that sea cucumber extract has a rejuvenating effect, and at the same time, it contains such an amount of mineral substances that no Living being can't compare to him.
What does it treat?
Tincture of sea cucumber with honey has a number of medicinal properties:
- Improves immunity and tones the body;
- Helps get rid of weakness and intoxication;
- The extract has an antioxidant effect on the human body. Counts effective means to prevent the development of a malignant tumor;
- Restores the pancreas and improve gastrointestinal function. Recommended for use in the treatment of intestinal contractions;
- Helps improve tissue restoration and rejuvenation;
- At constant use, the elasticity of blood vessels is restored, work of the cardiovascular system, blood pressure stabilizes.
- The level of cholesterol and glucose in the blood decreases, atherosclerotic plaques resolve;
- It has an effective effect on colds and pulmonary diseases;
- Useful qualities have a positive effect on the thyroid gland;
- Use in ophthalmology for color blindness, farsightedness, myopia, astigmatism;
- It should also be taken for frequent irritation, depression and lack of sleep;
- Increases the level of cognitive processes. Gynecologists advise taking it for inflammatory processes in women and uterine erosion.
- Sea tincture with honey has a positive effect on mastopathy among women. For men, it is useful for impotence and inflammation in the genitourinary system.
How to take tincture and extract?
How to take sea cucumber with honey? It is recommended to take the finished extract one teaspoon 2 times a day 30 minutes before meals. The instructions for the product describe the rules for compliance biological rhythms body. The industrially produced tincture can also be used externally. Here are some recommendations:
- The extract also helps with fungal infections of the skin and nails, acne, and the healing of purulent abrasions.
- Apply medicinal product Can be used for spraying the pharynx and entire oral cavity after surgical interventions, or for periodontal disease: mix the drug with any liquid 1:10, treat the mouth once - three times a day.
- You can make an application: lumps of cotton wool soaked in the extract are placed on the gums for 20-30 minutes.
- In the same ratio the extract used to treat infected and suppurating burns, trophic ulcers, wounds, mastitis, boils, psoriasis, carbuncles and other skin diseases. Before starting treatment, the damaged area must be washed, only then apply a napkin soaked in the extract.
- During treatment skin diseases in advanced forms, psoriasis, lupus erythematosus, hypodermia, herpes zoster, dermatic ulcers and for the disinfection of bedsores, it is recommended to use bandages treated with the following composition:
- Extract and boiled cooled liquid, 1 tablespoon each;
- Extract and sea buckthorn oil 1 tablespoon each. If no signs of allergy are observed, you can continue treatment with the undiluted tincture. In such cases, healers recommend simultaneously using the extract internally - twice a day, one teaspoon 30 minutes before meals.
- For diseases in severe forms of the nasopharynx, prepared in a ratio of 1:10 tincture is put in the nose– 2-3 drops in each nostril. During the treatment period, it is necessary to spray the oral cavity with the solution.
- The extract is also used in cosmetology to rejuvenate the skin.
Contraindications for use
Now let’s look at the contraindications of sea cucumber with honey. The most important thing here is to remember that extracting sea cucumber with honey has, in addition to positive qualities and negative. Just like any other medicine, the tincture must be used wisely, because not every body is suitable for this or that drug.
It depends on the individual perception of the body. Thus, there are the following contraindications:
- for allergy sufferers;
- people with hypothyroidism thyroid gland;
- children under 15 years of age;
- pregnant and lactating women;
- people with individual intolerance;
- hypertensive patients, since the tincture lowers blood pressure.
Before taking marine extract, like other medicines, be sure to consult your doctor.
How to cook?
Now let's see how to cook sea cucumber with honey. And we will learn some useful recipes.
Cooking sea cucumber with alcohol and honey.
Take dried sea cucumber - 100 grams (about 1.5-2 kg fresh), put it in a container and pour as much cold boiled water to cover the contents. Leave for a day to soak. Then drain the liquid and chop the sea cucumber (the finer the better).
Add 40% alcohol to the finished sea cucumber(per hundred grams of product - 1 l), set aside in a cool place, dark place, shaking occasionally. After 15-20 days, the extract is ready for use.
Shelf life in a cool place is 1 year.
To obtain a honey tincture, you need to take a ready-made alcohol tincture and thoroughly mix 1 liter of liquid with 1 kg of honey.
Cooking sea cucumber with honey.
Making an extract from a sea animal using honey is prepared in two ways: different recipes- in the first option, live sea cucumbers are used, and in the second, dried ones.
Freshly gutted sea cucumber carcasses are washed with running water and placed in a glass jar, which is filled with honey. The solution must be infused for 2-2.5 months in a cool and dark place. At the end of the above period, the extract must be filtered and poured into smaller containers.
Drink one teaspoon 1 time before bedtime.
Trepang on vodka with honey.
To prepare this sea cucumber tincture with honey, tolerance is required. These hoods are in demand in Japan and China where they can be purchased. In the CIS countries, these extracts are very expensive. It can be prepared at home; it is quite expensive to make, but it is worth it.
Chop fresh sea animals into thin rings (about 1 cm). We put everything in a glass resealable container and fill it with alcohol in the ratio of one part sea cucumber to two parts vodka. Then we close all the products and leave them for three weeks in a cool, dark and dry place. It is necessary to shake the tincture daily.
After 21 days, the extract is mixed with honey in a proportion of 1 kg to the original mixture. Stir thoroughly until the honey is completely mixed. Trepang with honey is ready.
Due to the fact that the tincture on a sea animal with honey is filled a huge amount useful chemical components, it is used for the prevention and treatment of a large number of diseases.
It is mainly valued as an effective anti-cancer drug. Before use, be sure to test for allergic reactions to this product and consult with your doctor. You should take into account all contraindications and do not self-medicate.
Or caterpillars. They are capable of shrinking strongly even with a slight touch, which is why they are sometimes associated with egg pods.
Sea cucumber - echinoderm an invertebrate mollusk with more than a thousand species. The varieties of these marine inhabitants differ in size, tentacles, and the structure of some organs.
They have a wrinkled, leathery body that resembles a cucumber due to its oval shape. On thick skin, growths resembling thorns are noticeable. On one side of its body there is a mouth surrounded by tentacles, on the other there is an anus. Sea cucumbers can be of very different colors - black, brown, green, gray, red.
Sea cucumbers also differ in size - some species look like dwarfs and reach sizes from several millimeters to several centimeters, other varieties can reach a length of up to two and even five meters. Miners hunt such giants with particular enthusiasm. Closest to sea cucumbers sea urchins and starfish.
Pictured is a sea cucumber
The most ancient sea cucumbers were known already in the Silurian period; the name “sea cucumber” itself belongs to the Roman philosopher Pliny, and Aristotle created the first descriptions of some species.
About a hundred species of these mollusks live in Russia, the most popular is the Japanese variety sea cucumber – cucumaria. This type of sea cucumber is different useful composition and excellent taste, and are often used in cooking. Sea cucumbers are the species of sea cucumbers that can be eaten.
Sea cucumber lifestyle and habitat
Sea cucumbers found in different parts ocean, and in shallow waters near the shore, and in deep-sea depressions, and in coral reefs, in tropical latitudes. They are distributed in the depths of the sea almost all over the world.
Holothurians are slow and lazy, they crawl along the bottom, and this makes them easy prey for hunters. Most of the time they lie at the bottom, “on their side.” Deep-sea species may have elongated ambulacral legs that serve as animal stilts and help move along the bottom and rocks.
The muscles of echinoderms are developed enough to move along the bottom and contract sharply in case of danger. Some species are able to attach themselves to rocks or burrow into mud. Holothurians themselves can become prey starfish, fish, crustaceans or gastropods.
Similarly, in the event of an attack or other danger, sea cucumbers “explode” - scattering their body into pieces. While the opponent chooses a tastier piece, at this time the front part of the cucumber is saved.
In case of danger, the sea cucumber can throw back part of its intestine to create a diversionary maneuver.
The body of echinoderm mollusks subsequently quickly regenerates. Sea cucumbers are animals, which can regenerate if half of the body is preserved, they can even recover from a quarter of their body. The regeneration process can take from one and a half to five weeks.
Sea cucumber nutrition
How do sea cucumbers hunt? All types of sea cucumbers have special tentacles located around the mouth. The number of tentacles can vary from 8 to 30.
The tentacles are usually short, designed to collect nutrients from the ground surface. Holothurians also have branched tentacles that can cover a large area of water in order to catch prey.
Their diet consists of plankton, plants, small animals and organic matter that can be extracted from bottom sand or silt. They are sometimes called marine orderlies because they clean the bottom surface of the remains of dead animals, using these organic substances as a nutrient.
American scientists carefully studied the features of the nutritional system of sea cucumbers. They discovered that holothurians feed primarily through the mouth, but the anus can also perform food capture functions, which in these simple invertebrates is also involved in respiratory system. The respiratory functions of these invertebrates are also performed by water lungs.
In Russia, cucumaria and other types of sea cucumbers are common on Sakhalin, Primorye, as well as in the Seas of Okhotsk, Japan and Barents, at a depth of half a meter to one hundred meters.
Sea cucumber reproduction and lifespan
Holothurians are hermaphrodites; they produce male and female reproductive cells alternately, sometimes even simultaneously. They reproduce by spawning; they have bright green eggs; the eggs hatch into larvae that can swim.
Spawning often occurs in the evening or at night; darkness may be important. Cucumaria spawns twice, in May and July. Holothurians living in Atlantic Ocean, spawn off the coast of Sweden in the fall, from October to December. Some species can spawn year-round. The larvae swim in plankton for about two weeks, then sink to the bottom.
The sea cucumber uses its tentacles to collect food from the bottom.
About 30 species of sea cucumbers are sexual and are divided into males and females. They care for the young and carry the young on the surface of the mother's body.
Rare cases of reproduction by division have also been recorded and described by scientists: half of the body is able to recover to its full volume. Holothurians live quite a long time, from five to ten years.
Due to the great popularity of cucumaria and its demand as a culinary product, as well as in pharmacology, it is practiced artificial breeding sea cucumbers, including in Russia, on Far East.
About useful properties of sea cucumber It was also known in ancient Eastern medicine; it has long been called sea ginseng. Cucumaria meat is practically sterile, not susceptible to viruses and bacteria; these mollusks are unusually rich in nutrients, microelements, especially iodine, as well as fluorine, calcium, amino acids and others.
Sea cucumbers are very low in calories, so their products can form the basis of a diet for those who want to lose weight. This product is used as a healing agent that stimulates the body's defenses for people suffering from increased fatigue and loss of strength. Sea cucumbers help a person quickly regain strength after surgery or a long illness.
Sea cucumber meat is beneficial for health, it normalizes metabolism, stimulates heart function, can help reduce blood pressure, promotes rapid tissue regeneration, so it is used during operations.
Sea cucumbers have a healing effect on joints and help with arthritis. Sea cucumbers are also used to produce food additives and pharmaceutical products.
You can buy sea cucumber not only for the sake of beneficial and medicinal properties - they are used to prepare delicious dishes. Sea cucumbers make excellent salads, invertebrate molluscs, after cleaning, frying and stewing, and also canning. Some types of sea cucumber are considered delicacies and attract a lot of attention from gourmets.
Trepang (holothurian) is a marine invertebrate animal belonging to the class of echinoderms. Habitat ranges from north coast Kuril Islands and the waters of southern Sakhalin to the Central Region of the Republic of China (Hong Kong). Holothurians prefer storm-protected bays with mudflats and rocky outcrops. People call these animals “sea cucumbers” or “egg capsules” because when irritated they shrink, turning into a “pimply” ball.
Trepang is a storehouse of useful substances, containing a large number of protein structures, organic acids and mineral salts. Thanks to the unique combination of nutrients, the product has a tonic, immune-strengthening and bactericidal effect on the body. In addition to the most valuable pharmacological properties Sea cucumber meat has a special spicy taste (reminiscent of chord sturgeon fish with a pronounced marine note). Exactly nutritional quality distinguish this delicacy from a number of other seafood.
Trepang is a unique inhabitant of the aquatic world, looking like a huge furry caterpillar. Holothuria has an oblong oval body, on the ventral side of which there is a mouth with ambulacral legs (tentacles). With the help of these processes, the animal captures and crushes the nutrient substrate (from the ground). The number of tentacles in sea cucumber varies from 10 to 30 pieces. The skin of the mollusk is covered big amount calcareous formations (spicules). In addition, on its dorsal surface there are soft cone-shaped outgrowths with white “spikes”.
The color of the egg pod varies from light gray to dark brown (depending on the habitat and type of animal). Thus, “green” forms of sea cucumbers are found on muddy soil, “red” ones are found on pebble or reef soil, and “blue” forms (albinos) are found on sandy (coastal) soil.
Standard parameters sea creature: width – 3-4 cm, length – 13-15 cm, weight – 0.7-0.8 kg. Along with this, in nature there are both very tiny individuals (0.5 cm in size) and giant representatives echinoderm family (exceeding 50 cm in length). The weight of small sea cucumbers is 0.02-0.03 kg, and large ones - 1.5-3 kg.
A distinctive feature of holothurians is their ability to regenerate. If a sea cucumber is cut into three parts and thrown into the water, the lost part of the body (legs, spines, tentacles, internal organs) will be restored over time. In this case, each segment of the animal is transformed into a separate living organism. Duration recovery period ranges from 3 to 7 months. In addition, sea cucumbers have amazing property change the elasticity of the walls of the body.
So, when there is a threat to life (from predators), their body becomes hard, and when they need to hide in hard-to-reach places, it becomes soft.
Features of behavior
The sea cucumber is a bottom-dwelling, sedentary animal, sensitive to a decrease in the salt composition of water. Holothuria thrives in marine and oceanic environments, where the concentration of mineral residues (including sodium chloride) reaches 0.033 - 0.035 kg per 1 liter. The least favorable for it are reservoirs with an intermediate level of salinity (0.02 kg per 1 l). With further desalination of water, the marine animal dies (due to irreversible changes in the body).
Based on their feeding type, sea cucumbers are classified as detritivores (animals that eat decaying biomaterials that settle on the ground). Together with phytoplankton, holothurians consume large amounts of sea sand (as a result of which their belly is 70% filled with earth). After digestion of the “feed”, the soil is naturally removed to the outside. Considering that sand is poor in useful substances, in order to satisfy its physiological needs, the mollusk has to pass colossal volumes of silt through itself. During a year of life, sea cucumber consumes 30-35 kg of sea soil. Moreover, in the spring period of the year, its digestive activity is twice as high as in summer and autumn.
To feed sea cucumbers, it is important to move a lot. To move, the animal uses ambulacral legs, which “work” like a “caterpillar.” First, the sea cucumber pulls up its rear tentacles, firmly suctioning them to the ground, then sends a wave of muscle contractions in front of itself. After this, he tears the middle leg off the sand, “throwing” the front part of the body forward. Interestingly, sea cucumbers, unlike fish, are able to assess the concentration of food in different areas of the seabed (using sensitive receptors). If plankton “lies” in deep layers of soil, the mollusk gets to it by digging a hole. Animals pass through food-poor areas of the bottom quickly, collecting nutrient particles from its surface layer.
Sea cobs live in large colonies, forming “trepang fields”. Moreover, in calm weather they crawl out en masse onto muddy sandy areas (next to stone cliffs), and in stormy weather they hide on hard ground in rock crevices and root thickets of algae.
Sea cucumbers are resistant to temperature fluctuations in water bodies. They can withstand from minus 5 degrees to 28 degrees above zero. If a sea cucumber is frozen in ice and then gradually thawed, it will survive.
The average lifespan of a sea cucumber is 10 years.
Reproduction
Sea cucumbers, especially those from the Far East, are highly fertile. During one spawning period, an individual can lay 65-75 million eggs. These mollusks are dioecious, but they are difficult to distinguish by external characteristics. IN mating season they form pairs, crawling onto near-water elevations (rock ledges, clusters of mussels, stone cliffs, algae rhizomes). After fertilization, holothurians attach their hind legs to the substrate. At the same time, they raise the front part of the body upward, taking an S-shaped “spawning” pose. The timing of reproduction directly depends on the habitat. Mating of mollusks living near southern shores Japan, begins in May, in the Yellow Sea - in June, and in Peter the Great Bay - in July-August.
The duration of spawning is 1-3 days. After spawning, exhausted sea cucumbers crawl into shelters and hibernate. Animals remain in a state of “torpor” for 1-1.5 months. Then they come out of hiding, starting to feed heavily.
In the larvae, after 3 weeks of planktonic life, the rudiments of 5 tentacles appear around the mouth (pentactula stage). Thanks to these processes, they settle on the thallus of herbs and algae, turning into full-fledged fry. Young holothurians usually have 3-4 outgrowths on the back and 5-6 legs on the abdomen. As the fry grows, the number of tentacles increases, and the body takes on a characteristic “worm-like” shape. By the end of the first year of life, sea cucumbers reach a length of 4-5 cm, and by the end of the second summer - 13-15 cm. Sexual maturity in young individuals occurs in the third year of life.
Chemical composition
Holothuria - useful dietary product, 100 grams of which contain 34 kilocalories.
However, despite the low energy indicators, sea cucumber has high nutritional value(due to the high content of protein, bacterial components, micro- and macroelements).
The protein concentration in sea cucumber tissue varies between 8-10% of body weight. Wherein most The composition of the protein fraction is occupied by collagen-like structures. These substances are different high concentration free ( , ).
| Name | Nutrient content per 100 grams of product, milligrams |
|---|---|
| Vitamins | |
| 5,4 | |
| 4,2 | |
| 4,2 | |
| 1,4 | |
| 0,07 | |
| 0,02 | |
| 0,02 | |
| 0,01 | |
| 0,0002 | |
| 72,6 | |
| 70 | |
| 49 | |
| 48 | |
| 20 | |
| 2 | |
| 1,1 | |
| 0,18 | |
| 0,07 | |
| 0,05 | |
| 0,044 | |
| 0,019 | |
| 0,0004 | |
In addition, triterpene saponins are present in sea cucumber tissues ( structural components immunomodulator plants: ginseng, eleutherococcus, zamanikha). Thanks to these compounds, shellfish meat has bactericidal, hemolytic, cytotoxic, antitumor and immunocorrective properties.
Due to the unique chemical composition, in China, sea cucumber is called “sea ginseng”.
Product usefulness
The healing properties of sea cucumber have been known to mankind since time immemorial. However, information about the medicinal value of the product penetrated into Europe only at the end of the 16th century (from the culture ancient China). Eastern medicine healers used clam extract as a powerful stimulant and tonic. In addition, the imperial dynasties of China used sea cucumber infusion as a rejuvenating elixir (to extend the period of their reign). It is interesting that in ancient times such drugs were treated as miraculous sources of vitality.
Currently, the medicinal value of sea cucumber has been confirmed by numerous experimental and clinical studies. Considering that animal tissue contains more than 200 nutritional components, bioactive compositions and complexes are made on its basis. The main effects of such drugs are stimulating, oncoprotective, antiviral, immunomodulatory, hematopoietic, and hypotensive. To improve the health of the body, you can use both ready-made store-bought mixtures and drugs created at home.
Preparation of medicinal tincture (with):
- Clean the fresh carcass from skin and entrails. If dried shellfish is used, it must first be soaked in cold water 10-12 hours.
- Cut the prepared meat into small pieces. If desired, you can use a meat grinder.
- Place the crushed raw materials in a glass or clay container.
- Pour natural honey over the meat (so that it covers the fillet), mix the mixture thoroughly.
- Leave in a dark, cool place for 1-1.5 months.
A properly prepared medicine has a dark, rich color and a thick consistency (heterogeneous).
IN medicinal purposes The mixture is consumed twice a day, 15 ml 20 minutes before meals. Duration of therapy is 1 month. After three weeks, taking the drug is resumed (if necessary).
For preventive purposes, the composition is used in the fall before the cold season and in the spring to strengthen the immune system (5 ml three times a day). However, in the first week of therapy, the size of a single serving should not exceed 15 drops (due to the powerful stimulating effect). In addition, while taking sea cucumber extract, it is important to control your heart rate. If necessary, take a sedative at night (to relieve nervous excitement).
Effects of using sea cucumber infusions (if the dosage regimen is followed):
- strengthens the immune system, increases the body's resistance to pathogenic agents;
- stabilizes blood pressure;
- normalizes lipid and cholesterol metabolism;
- increases visual acuity;
- stimulates the regeneration of damaged layers of the dermis (including bone tissue);
- reduces blood levels;
- stimulates male potency;
- improves thyroid function;
- increases vitality;
- accelerates the removal of carcinogenic substances from the body;
- reduces intensity inflammatory processes(in the hearth);
- improves psycho-emotional background;
- has an antibacterial effect;
- increases the body's antitumor defense and slows down the growth of tumors.
Along with oral administration, sea cucumber extract is used to disinfect the outer integument of the body. Namely, for treating skin rashes, rinsing the mouth (after dental procedures), nasal drops, lubricating the walls of the vagina (for fibroids).
Remember, sea cucumber extract cannot be used if you have hyperthyroidism or allergies to bee and seafood products.
How to prepare a delicacy?
Sea cucumbers are great for all types culinary processing: cooking, stewing, baking, pickling and salting. The animal's muscular tissue, freed from skin and entrails, is used for food. Based on sea cucumber, both stand-alone snacks (cold and hot) and multi-component side dishes, marinades, dressings and first courses are prepared. Sea cucumber meat goes well with all seafood, hot sauces, onions, tomato paste, and vegetables.
Holothuria is sold mainly in dried or frozen form. Let's look at how to properly cook shellfish.
Preparatory stage:
- Rinse the carcasses under running water (to remove the charcoal powder).
- Soak the meat in fresh liquid for 24 hours. At the same time, change the water every 3-4 hours.
- Rinse the soaked carcasses, add new liquid, and place on the stove.
- Boil the shellfish meat for 60 seconds over low heat, then remove from heat and leave in the broth (for 20 hours).
- Drain the used fluid. Gut half-finished carcasses.
- Rinse the cut product with cold water, and then cook again for 60 seconds over low heat.
- Infuse the sea cucumber in the original liquid for 20 hours (again).
If after a two-day processing cycle the meat is tough (with an unpleasant iodine odor), the cooking process is repeated (for 3-7 days). After softening, the product is placed in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Full cycle processing dried sea cucumbers takes from 2 to 7 days (depending on the degree of contamination).
When using frozen carcasses, they are first thawed on the top shelf of the refrigerator or in warm water (at a temperature of 10-15 degrees). Then the raw materials are cut and washed under running water. After this, the product is boiled in several changes of liquid (3-6 times). This process is repeated until the broth stops turning black (due to its high iodine content). The time of each treatment should not exceed 5-8 minutes. After cooking, the meat is washed under cold water (until completely cooled) and then placed in the refrigerator. At the same time, make sure that the dishes are clean, since the product quickly deteriorates when it comes into contact with fats.
The storage period for sea cucumbers at temperatures from 0 to + 5 degrees is 3-4 days. To increase shelf life (up to 2 months), the finished meat is placed in the freezer. – 20 grams;
Cooking algorithm:
- Boil the sea cucumbers in several changes of water, cut into cubes.
- Fry seafood, carrots and parsley roots (in lard).
- Boil the peas until half cooked (20-30 minutes).
- Add the fried mixture, herbs, and seasonings to the broth.
Serve pea soup with sour cream or spicy mustard sauce.
Sea cucumbers under marinade
Components:
- dried sea cucumbers – 50-60 grams;
- carrots – 600 grams (4-5 pieces);
- celery – 15 grams (3-4 sprigs);
- onions – 300 grams (2-3 pieces);
- tomato paste – 30 milliliters;
- water – 70 milliliters;
- little vegetable - 30 milliliters;
- – 15 milliliters;
- sugar – 5 grams;
- seasonings (bay leaf, sweet peas, onions).
Cooking diagram:
- Boil the sea cucumbers (after pre-soaking).
- Prepare the marinade. To do this, peel the vegetables first. Then the carrots are grated, the onions are cut into rings, and the greens are chopped using a blender. Prepared vegetables are sautéed in vegetable oil until half cooked. Then the mixture is combined with tomato paste and simmered over low heat for another 5-10 minutes. After this, vinegar, water, sugar, seasonings and herbs are added to the frying. After boiling, the dressing is heated for 15 minutes.
- Add chopped sea cucumbers to the hot marinade. Simmer the mixture over low heat for 5-10 minutes.
The dish can be served either cold or hot.
Ingredients:
- sea cucumbers – 300 grams;
- vegetable oil – 45 milliliters;
- white cabbage – 400 grams;
- carrots – 200 grams;
- zucchini – 200 grams;
- - 300 grams;
- tomatoes – 200 grams;
- mayonnaise – 150 milliliters;
- cheese – 150 grams.
Cooking diagram:
- Boil sea cucumbers in three changes of water (after soaking for a day).
- Fry the sea cucumbers in vegetable oil (for 5 minutes).
- Chop vegetables. Cut the cabbage into half rings, potatoes into strips, carrots and zucchini into cubes. Grate the tomatoes.
- Fry the vegetable mixture over low heat (5 minutes).
- Combine cabbage, carrots, zucchini and potatoes with sea cucumbers, add salt and seasonings.
- Place the prepared mixture on a baking sheet. Pour in tomato sauce.
- Bake the dish in the oven for 20 minutes (at 180 degrees).
- Sprinkle the semi-finished dish with cheese and coat with mayonnaise (10 minutes before it’s ready).
Serve the roast with tomato juice and pickled mushrooms.
Conclusion
Trepang is a valuable echinoderm that lives in the coastal waters of the Japanese, Yellow and East China Seas. The tissues of this animal contain a large amount of bioactive substances: protein structures, triterpene saponins, minerals, vitamins, organic acids. Thanks to a unique combination of nutrients, sea cucumber meat is used to slow down the natural aging process, reduce irritability, and accelerate regeneration skin, increasing vitality. Along with this, seafood provides invaluable support to the thyroid gland, brain, reproductive organs, cardiovascular system. To obtain a pronounced therapeutic effect, an extract or extract is prepared from fresh shellfish (you can use ready-made tinctures).
Preparations based on sea cucumber are advisable for use in cases of reduced immunity, vitamin deficiencies, adhesions, chronic fatigue syndrome, purulent wounds, rheumatoid arthritis, impotence, and mastopathy. In addition to its medicinal and nutritional properties, egg capsule meat has an exquisite fish and shrimp taste. Because of this, it is actively used in cooking (especially in countries eastern Asia). It is excellent for all types of food processing: baking, frying, boiling, drying, salting, canning and pickling. Soups, hodgepodges, side dishes, salads, pie fillings, sauces, and marinades are prepared from the echinoderm. The product requires pre-treatment: soaking for a day in cold water, boiling in several changes of liquid (with 12-hour settling). Store in the refrigerator (no more than 2 days) or in the freezer (1.5-2 months).
"Sea cucumber" - unusual inhabitant underwater world. It somewhat resembles a worm, or more precisely, a large, thick caterpillar. This “vegetable” has a very specific way of protecting itself from enemies - it sprays its internal organs onto them.
These invertebrates can be found in almost all seas except the Caspian and Baltic. They live in coastal areas, and in deep-sea depressions. Coral reefs serve as their main home.
Holothurians, depending on the species, have different sizes, ranging from 0.5 centimeters to 5 meters (for example, spotted synapta). In addition to being the longest among the other species, it is also the fastest.
The length of most sea cucumbers varies from 3 centimeters to 1-2 meters. They come in incredible colors, ranging from speckled brown to bright yellow with orange and blue stripes.
Externally, “sea cucumbers” look more like large and clumsy caterpillars. Their soft body can be smooth, rough, or covered with various outgrowths.
Outgrowths on the body of holothurians On one side of the body, they have a mouth, and on the other, an anus, which also serves as a sea cucumber"for......breathing! This was the first time I heard that this was even possible. With its help, sea cucumbers draw in water saturated with oxygen. From there, the water enters the water lungs, which are located next to the anus.
Tentacles Her mouth is surrounded by tentacles, with which she puts food into her mouth. During its leisurely movement, the holothurian touches the sand, silt or corals with its tentacles and captures from them the smallest particles of organic matter and grains of sand with bacteria. Because of this “sandy diet,” the sea cucumber constantly emptys its intestines. In addition to organic matter and bacteria, it feeds on plankton.
These invertebrates move slowly, contracting and stretching their bodies. Some species are able to swim using worm-like movements.
Holothuria almost always lies on one side of the body – the trivium. If you turn it over, it will definitely return to initial position.
These “algae” are also sea cucumbers Reproduction in sea cucumbers occurs sexually. Females lay eggs directly in the water, and the male fertilizes them. Some species are caring parents. For example, the red holothurian, which lives off the coast of California, carries eggs on its back under calcareous plates. When ripe, the larvae break through the mother's skin and begin to swim freely.
The larvae go through 3 stages of development: 1 - dipleurula, 2 - auricularia and the final stage - doliolaria. During the first month of their life, they feed on single-celled algae.
Holothuria is a unique animal. She can easily say goodbye to part of her body. At severe irritation or when touched, she throws out her insides through the anus: the back of the intestine, water lungs and Cuvier's bundles - organs containing toxins. Scientifically, this phenomenon is called evisceration.
"Shooting" weapon Regeneration of lost organs occurs quite quickly and is completely completed in 6-8 weeks. In addition, these animals can reproduce their body from half or even one quarter of what remains of it. True, they no longer grow to their original size.
And finally. Holothuria is a walking home for the tiny “pearl” fish Carapus affinis, which lives in its anus. Here the fish are always protected and supplied with a supply of fresh water. It must be funny to watch the fish stick its head out of this hole.
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