Types of Sea Cucumber
It is recorded that there are about 1100 kinds of sea cucumbers in the world, and there are about 120 kinds in China, most of which are inedible. According to the statistics, there are 40 kinds of edible sea cucumbers in the world, and the edible sea cucumbers in China account for half of them, up to 20 kinds. Sea cucumbers are divided into two categories according to whether there are conical fleshy warty feet on the back of the sea cucumber: “spiny cucumbers” and “light cucumbers”, among which “spiny cucumbers” are mainly the species of the spiny cucumber family, and “light cucumbers” are mainly the species of the spiny cucumber family. The “light cucumbers” are mainly from the family of sea cucumbers, melon cucumbers and taro cucumbers.
Habitat of sea cucumbers
In the natural sea area, sea cucumbers mostly live in the sea at depths of 3-15 meters, up to 35 meters, and even at 150 meters. Sea cucumbers prefer to grow in the reef substrate with less wind and waves, no fresh water inflow, and lush algae, or hard mud and sand bottom with large leaf algae. Sea cucumbers live in pollution-free waters, and they love cleanliness and are afraid of dirt and oil, so a drop of oil or a hair can easily make them melt into water.
Difference between sea cucumber bottom sowing and weir farming
1.Bottom sowing culture: It means that the sea cucumber seeds are put back into the sea (water temperature is suitable, the bottom is mostly rocky reef, sandy substrate, large area of macroalgae clumped with mud and sand or sandy mixed texture, and the water exchange is smooth), and the sea cucumber grows in the natural environment without any artificial treatment, and the growth period is usually more than 4 years.
2. Weir farming: It refers to the use of original shrimp pond or other coastal ponds and weirs, using gates or pipes to update seawater, throwing stones or other materials in the pond to simulate the growth reef of sea cucumbers, and putting artificial bait made of kelp and seaweed, etc. The growth period of sea cucumbers is shorter, and the growth period is usually not more than 2 years.
When we understand the mode of sea cucumber farming, we know that the growth environment of bottom-sown farmed sea cucumbers is closest to the natural growth state of sea cucumbers and is undoubtedly the most valuable.
Miraculous abilities of sea cucumber
1. “Drainage ability” of sea cucumber. Under adverse environmental conditions, such as seawater pollution, high water temperature, excessive density or some strong stimulation, the body of sea cucumber will contract strongly, often discharging the toxins from the anus, which is called “dirty discharge”. After the viscera are discharged, the sea cucumber will not die, and will produce new viscera after about 60 days of recuperation in the sea. This function is also the escape ability of sea cucumber. When sea cucumber encounters natural enemies, it will instinctively and quickly spit out its own internal organs to confuse the natural enemies and escape by reaction force.
2. The “regeneration ability” of sea cucumber. Sea cucumber has strong regenerative power. If it is cut into 2-3 segments, the segment with part of the cloaca can be re-generated into a whole, and for a few cave-dwelling sea cucumbers, only the front part can be regenerated. If the fleshy spines of the cucumber are cut off, a small bulge will appear after 5-7 days and will grow 1-2 mm long after 30 days; if the tube foot is cut off, the wound will heal itself and become raised after about 7 days, and can be recreated in the same state before the cut after 25-33 days, and can ingest food, but with slightly lighter pigmentation. The “regeneration function” also provides a compelling way for sea cucumbers to escape from their natural enemies. When the natural enemy swallows half of the sea cucumber, the other half of the sea cucumber will be re-generated as a whole after a period of time. This miraculous regeneration and repair function has been the subject of deep confusion among the academic experts in Chinese and foreign medical engineering.
3.The “poisoning ability” of sea cucumber. There is a kind of slimy, special tasting threads in the sea cucumber body, which contains a special organ of toxin, white, pink and red – Güven’s tube. When attacked, it can expel the tube from the anus to entangle and poison the incoming “enemy”. It is often difficult to figure out: the opponent often only eats the guts of the sea cucumber, but not its body wall. Why is that? It turns out that the body wall of most sea cucumbers contains sea cucumber toxins, which can cause toxic reactions in swallowers and cause symptoms such as muscle paralysis and hemolysis.
4. Sea cucumber’s “summer sleeping ability”. As the sea cucumber is mainly eating plankton and volcanic rocks, etc., the plankton is very sensitive to water temperature. When the water is cold in winter, the plankton dives to the bottom in search of warmth. This is the happiest season for sea cucumbers. At the summer solstice, when the water temperature in the sea rises to 20℃, the plankton come up to the surface to reproduce. When the sea cucumber loses its food, it turns to the dark place of the reef without a sound and sleeps with its back side down for three to four months. Before entering summer sleep, the sea cucumber vomits out all its internal organs, and during this period, it does not eat and does not move, and its whole body shrinks and hardens, and only after autumn does it wake up and resume its activities. Sea cucumbers use summer sleep to survive the scarcity of food at the bottom of the sea in summer. Another theory is that sea cucumbers use up most of their energy after laying eggs and need a long rest. So far, there is no very satisfactory explanation for the phenomenon of summer sleep of sea cucumbers.
5. The “autolytic ability” of sea cucumber. Sea cucumber has a special phenomenon that when it leaves the seawater, it will automatically secrete an autolysis enzyme in the sunlight, and will disappear into a puddle of water after a few hours.
6. The “sand swallowing ability” of sea cucumber. Sea cucumbers mainly use the tiny plants and animals on the sea floor as bait, and eat a lot of sediment. A sea cucumber swallows 36.9 liters of sediment per year. Therefore, the growth is extremely slow, resulting in a large amount of beneficial trace elements in the body, such as zinc, selenium, calcium, iron and magnesium. This is one of the important reasons why its tonic function is so much and precious.
In addition, sea cucumber has “non-decaying ability”, “ability to predict weather”, “ability to resist cold”, “ability to change color ” and “resistance to hypoxia”, etc.
Age of sea cucumber
The age of sea cucumber is the age of sea cucumber. At present, there is less research on the life span of sea cucumbers. There is no way to identify the age of sea cucumber by senses. Experts believe that the age of commercial sea cucumbers is 3-5 years. The longest age of sea cucumber is 8-10 years, and half of the age over 10 years will automatically melt in the sea. Therefore, the sea cucumber that claims to be 12 years old in the market should not exist. Just like the legendary thousand-year Lingzhi, it is actually just a pile of rotten wood with no medicinal value. However, it is certain that the longer the sea cucumber grows, the bigger it is. The richer the nutritional value, the higher the value.
Is it better to have more spines or less spines?
If we compare the spiny cucumber with the light cucumber, the spiny cucumber is definitely better, the nutritional value of the spiny cucumber is better than the light cucumber, and the selling price of the two is far different. Generally speaking, the goodness of spiny ginseng is not much related to the density of spines, but the number of spines is related to the growth environment, which is a sign to distinguish the origin. The spiny ginseng from the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea in China, called Liaochen, has few spines, mostly in four rows, with fatty meat and good taste. It is very rich in nutrients. Sea cucumbers with more spines are usually produced in the Sea of Japan and are called Kanto cucumbers, with six rows of spines. Although they are close to each other in terms of latitude and longitude, the nutritional value, active ingredients and content of Liaoning cucumber are better than Kanto cucumber.
Comparison of North and South Sea Cucumber in China
Due to the innate geographical conditions, the nutritional value of north and south sea cucumbers in China’s coastal waters varies greatly. Chinese sea cucumbers are most valuable from the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. The sea cucumbers produced in the southern waters are commonly called “sea cucumber” and “sea suzi”, which are large in size, lower in nutritional content and cheaper; the sea cucumbers in the northern waters are relatively small in size, but rich in nutritional value, so the northern sea cucumbers are better than the southern sea cucumbers, and the sea cucumbers produced in the northern waters are Among the sea cucumbers produced in the northern waters, the spiny cucumber has the most production, the highest nutritional value and is more valuable for consumption. On the other hand, sea cucumbers from Japan, Russia and Korea are not as nutritious as Liaochen, despite their beautiful appearance.
Nutritional value of sea cucumber
The nutritional value of sea cucumber is high. Each hundred grams of sea cucumber contains 14.9 grams of protein, 0.9 grams of fat, 0.4 grams of carbohydrates, 375 mg of calcium, 12 mg of phosphorus, 2.4 mg of iron and vitamin B2, vitamin B1 and nikonic acid. Sea cucumber contains very low cholesterol, a typical high protein, low fat and low cholesterol food (not zero cholesterol).
Effects of sea cucumber
Nourishes the kidney and essence, nourishes blood and moistens dryness. It mainly treats deficiency of kidney essence, impotence and spermatorrhea, frequent urination, lumbar soreness and weakness, etc.
Effects of sea cucumber
Due to the high price of sea cucumber, it is not often available for ordinary people to consume. However, with the improvement of quality of life, it is not impossible to consume some occasionally in a targeted manner. I will introduce to you the most practical effects of sea cucumber that I think people are more interested in.
1, the role of sea cucumber on beauty: most women suffer from anemia, which is the natural enemy of women’s health and beauty. Therefore, women’s beauty should be nourished first, so that the blood is full and the body and mind are healthy. In contrast, sea cucumber contains a large amount of vitamins and folic acid, which have good effects on the bone marrow of blood production and the manufacture of red blood cells. The active sea cucumber ingredients are also rich in sea cucumber mucopolysaccharide. A large number of pharmacological studies have shown that sea cucumber mucopolysaccharides can promote the recovery of the body’s hematopoietic function and rapidly promote the growth of hemoglobin.
2. Sea cucumber has a healthy and brain-healthy effect on teenagers: sea cucumber contains rich and balanced nutrition. Many of them are necessary for children’s growth and development. Such as lysine, methionine and oxalic acid, which can enhance appetite and promote growth and development. Elements such as calcium, iron, zinc and multivitamins are helpful to increase memory and promote growth, making your children happy and healthy. Studies have proven that sea cucumbers contain two types of unsaturated fatty acids, EPA and DHA, which are known as “brain gold”. DHA has an important role in the growth and development of brain cells, especially the synapses of the nervous system.
3, maternal health care: to provide comprehensive nutrition for maternal protection, enhance physical fitness, rapid and effective recovery of physical and physical strength, and can provide rich brain and nerve development of the baby brain gold material, effectively avoid the occurrence of innate immune diseases.
4. Post-surgery tonic: Sea cucumber has the highest content of arginine, which is an important raw material for the synthesis of human collagen. It has special effects on the recovery of the body after injury. There is experimental evidence: two patients with similar conditions, age and physical condition of surgery, the patient who consumed one sea cucumber per day recovered fully about 20 days earlier. Therefore, for post-surgery patients, maternity patients and patients with fracture and trauma, consuming sea cucumber to nourish and replenish blood and restore vitality can significantly shorten the recovery time. (A better dried sea cucumber, 20 pieces, is about 1500~2000 RMB)
How to select dried sea cucumbers
Observation method: The dried sea cucumbers are processed according to the process specified in the standard of dried sea cucumbers, with blackish gray or gray color, loose and square body shape, uniform individual, basically the same size, firm and lustrous, straight and complete spine tip, little or less limestone (commonly known as teeth) showing in the mouth, small and clear neat incision; dense and clear ginseng feet under the abdomen; single weight ranging from 7 grams to more than 15 grams according to the specification; no salt cream on the body surface, attached The body surface is free of salt cream, less charcoal ash or grass ash, and no impurities and odor, which is the best quality. In contrast, the dried sea cucumbers are uneven in size, irregular in shape, coarse and dark in color, short spines, rounded or defective spines, fuzzy and unclear feet under the abdomen, irregular and unclear end incisions, and more obvious limestone. The body surface with salt cream or salt crystals and impurities is of low quality.
Hand feeling method: The dried sea cucumber is hard, not easy to break, light weight, full dry, with charcoal feeling, elasticity and echo, which is the best quality. Poor quality dried sea cucumbers are easy to break and have salt crystals or impurities off, with a heavy feeling in hand, no elastic echo when tapping or tossing, and the salt content is above 60%.
Cut open method: cut open the dried sea cucumber horizontally, its body is clean without salt crystals, no offal, mud and other impurities, the wall thickness of the section is evenly above 3-5 mm, the flesh of the section is dark brown, bright luster for the top quality. If the dried sea cucumbers are not processed according to the requirements of the processing technology or repeatedly boiled and salted, there are obvious salt crystals or impurities, thin and uneven thickness of gelatin layer, or even broken, forming holes, and the aging of the tissue form is inferior. Now there are semi-dried sea cucumbers in the market, which are more economical and safer. It is said that people in Weihai mainly buy semi-dried sea cucumbers because the processing and production process is simpler.
How to prepare sea cucumber
When it comes to preparing sea cucumbers, everyone will feel annoyed and have a big head. Not to mention that the process is complicated and the result is not satisfactory. I have checked a lot of information about sea cucumber preparation, but it is very tedious. Now I will teach you the easiest way to prepare sea cucumber, which is effective.
1, first put the sea cucumber into a container (such as a cup), the container used cannot be a bit greasy, otherwise the sea cucumber will not be developed.
2.Put pure water into the container and put it into the refrigerator for 48 hours (or at room temperature in winter), and change the water every 12 hours.
3.Put the sea cucumber into the rice cooker before going to bed, add water to 1/2 of the rice cooker, when the water boils, then cook for 40 minutes and simmer overnight. (Cut off the power and let it cool naturally)
4. Use a small brush or a clean toothbrush to brush the surface of the sea cucumber overnight, then use scissors to cut the sea cucumber lengthwise and wash it. (There are five tendons on the inner wall of the sea cucumber belly, don’t mistake them for internal organs, they are edible and nutritious).
5. Put the cleaned sea cucumber into a container with pure water and put it into the refrigerator for 48 hours (same as the previous time). If the sea cucumber is not finished at one time, wrap the sea cucumber with plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator for quick-freezing. The whole process is so simple and easy to learn.
How to eat sea cucumber
There are many ways to consume sea cucumber, and there are customary ways to consume sea cucumber in different places. A few years ago. The city union organized us to go to Weihai for recuperation and bought some sea cucumbers. The salesman told me that they usually boil sea cucumbers with seed chops locally and eat one sea cucumber every 3 days. I think the easiest way is to take 5~6 sea cucumbers and put them in the refrigerator, then use hot water to heat them up when you need to eat them, cut them into sections and mix them with soy sauce and sesame oil to eat them most conveniently. 1 root per day or 1 root every other day, preferably in the morning on an empty stomach.
Note: Sea cucumber is expensive and not consumed by ordinary people. The purpose of this article is to give you a better understanding of sea cucumber, and for your children to grow taller. If you have girls (14 years old) or boys (16 years old) in your family, it is a critical time to take sea cucumber during puberty; third, to provide a valuable piece of information for mothers-to-be who are about to get pregnant or are already pregnant. Buy sea cucumber must buy spiny cucumber, the price of good sea cucumber is roughly over 4000-5000 RMB/500g.