The changes in chemical composition of Holothuria tubulosa (Gmelin, 1788) with ambient-drying and oven-drying methods.

In this study, the nutritional properties of fresh (F), boiled (B), ambient-dried (Holothuria tubulosa) (DA, 23 ± 2°C) and oven-dried sea cucumber (DO, 45 ± 1°C) were compared in terms of proximate composition and fatty acid profiles. The results of the proximate analyses showed that the highest moisture content (86.76%) was determined in fresh samples, whereas the lowest moisture content (9.35%) was obtained in the oven-dried group (DO). The crude fat and protein contents were in the range of 0.19% (B) to 0.87% (DA) and 12.30% (F) to 62.13% (DA), respectively. The highest ash content (30.30%) was obtained in group DO, while the lowest ash content (0.61%) was observed in the boiled samples (B). According to fatty acid analyses, there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the two drying methods. The monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) (21.405%) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (36.018%) contents of H. tubulosa were high. Holothuria tubulosa can be used as protein and PUFA sources. Comparing the two methods, oven-drying is better in terms of preservation, whereas drying at the ambient temperature is better in terms of nutrient value.