Processing and quality characteristics sea cucumber Bohadschia vitiensis at Kambuno Island in Sembilan Islands, Bone Gulf, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

Sea cucumber is an Echinoderm which has high economic value due to their high nutritional value and medicinal properties. More than 80% of Indonesia's sea cucumber productions were exported as dried products. Therefore, before being exported, sea cucumbers go through processing, which was almost carried out on a household scale whose processing and quality were very diverse. This study aims to evaluate the processing and quality characteristics of sea cucumber Bohadschia vitiensis at Kambuno Island in Sembilan Islands, Bone Gulf, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Sembilan Island is a household scale sea cucumber processing area. This study uses the method of observation, evaluation, and laboratory analyses. B. vitiensis processing method at Kambuno Island uses four stages, namely weeding, salting, boiling, and drying. Quality characteristics observations of B. vitiensis indicated that several parameters did not meet the Indonesian National Standards (INS). The quality parameters that did not meet INS standards were organoleptic and chemical parameters. Organoleptic parameters that less than seven were appearance, odor, and texture. Whereas chemical parameters that did not reach INS were water levels that exceed the maximum limit.