Author(s)

Rita Santos^1,2, Simaura Dias², Susete Pinteus², Joana Silva², Celso Alves², Carla Tecelão^2,3, Ana Pombo^2*, Rui Pedrosa²

¹Department of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences (GEES), Faculty of Science, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
²MARE—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ESTM, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Peniche, Portugal.
³Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food Research Unit (LEAF), Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal.

Sea cucumbers are highly used not only for the production of the bêche-de-mer, but also recent studies have been showing the high potential of these marine invertebrates on the pharmaceutical industry, as they are rich in bioactive compounds with important functions. Stichopus regalis extracts (1 mg·mL^-1) were used in antioxidant, antimicrobial and antitumor assays. The lipid profile was also evaluated. No significant antioxidant activity was detected in both methanolic and dichloromethane extracts. The methanolic fraction showed the highest antimicrobial potential against Candida albicans with an IC₅₀ of 475.4 μg·mL^-1. In the antitumor assays, the dichloromethane fraction showed a high potential for both cell lines, as revealed by the MTT method. The total fat content was 3.63% ± 0.11% and the fatty acid profile revealed the highest amount in C16:0 (9.43% ± 0.77%), C18:0 (12.43% ± 0.83%), C18:1 ω7 (5.63% ± 0.33%), EPA (12.49% ± 0.15%), DHA (7.35% ± 0.02%), ARA (19.29% ± 0.14%) and a ω3/ω6 ratio of 1.078. These findings led us to suggest the potential use of S. regalis as a new source of bioactive compounds with pharmacological potential and its nutritional benefits for human health.

Sea Cucumber, Antimicrobial Activity, Antitumor Activity, Marine Natural Compounds, Fatty Acid Profile

Santos, R. , Dias, S. , Pinteus, S. , Silva, J. , Alves, C. , Tecelão, C. , Pombo, A. and Pedrosa, R. (2015) The Biotechnological and Seafood Potential of Stichopus regalis. Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, 6, 194-204. doi: 10.4236/abb.2015.63019.