Trepang (photo): a small creation of great importance. Trepang (sea cucumber): description and photo Where trepang lives

Trepang (holothuria) is a marine invertebrate animal belonging to the class of echinoderms. The habitat extends from the northern coast of the 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 stony deposits. In the people, these animals are called "sea cucumbers" or "pods", because when irritated they shrink, turning into a "pimple" ball.

Trepang is a storehouse of useful substances containing a large number of protein structures, organic acids and mineral salts. Due 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 Holothurian meat is distinguished by a special piquant flavor (reminiscent of a sturgeon chord with a pronounced marine note). It is the nutritional qualities that distinguish this delicacy from a number of other seafood.

Trepang is a unique inhabitant of the water world, outwardly similar to a huge furry caterpillar. The holothurian has an elongated 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 grinds the nutrient substrate (from the ground). The number of tentacles in trepang varies from 10 to 30 pieces. The skin of the mollusk is covered with a large number of calcareous formations (spicules). In addition, on its dorsal surface there are soft cone-shaped outgrowths with white "spikes".

The color of the "pod" varies from light gray to dark brown (depending on the habitat and type of animal). So, “green” forms of trepangs are found on muddy ground, “red” ones on pebble or reef ground, and “blue” ones (albinos) on sandy (coastal) ones.

Standard parameters of a marine life: width - 3-4 cm, length - 13-15 cm, weight - 0.7-0.8 kg. Along with this, both very tiny individuals (0.5 cm in size) and giant representatives of the echinoderm family (exceeding 50 cm in length) are found in nature. The mass of small trepangs 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, needles, tentacles, internal organs) will eventually be restored. 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, trepangs have an amazing ability to change the elasticity of the walls of the body.

So, when life is threatened (from predators), their body becomes rigid, and when they need to hide in hard-to-reach places, it becomes soft.

Behavioral features

The sea cucumber is a benthic sedentary animal that is sensitive to a decrease in the salt composition of water. Holothuria feels great 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 water bodies with an intermediate level of salinity (0.02 kg per 1 liter). With further desalination, the marine animal dies (due to irreversible changes in the body).

According to the type of food, trepangs are classified as collecting detritophages (animals that eat decaying biomaterials that settle on the ground). Together with phytoplankton, holothurians consume a large amount of sea sand (due to which their belly is 70% full of earth). After digestion of the "feed", the soil is naturally brought out. Considering that the sand is poor in useful substances, in order to satisfy the physiological needs, the mollusk has to pass through itself enormous volumes of silt. For a year of life, trepang consumes 30-35 kg of sea soil. At the same time, in the spring period of the year, its digestive activity is twice as high as in summer and autumn.

To feed on sea cucumbers, it is important to move a lot. To move the animal uses ambulacral legs, which "work" like a "caterpillar". First, the trepang pulls up the rear tentacles, firmly sticking them to the ground, then sends a wave of muscle contractions in front of it. After that, he tears off the middle leg from the sand, “throwing out” the front part of the body forward. Interestingly, trepangs, unlike fish, are able to assess the concentration of food in different parts of the seabed (using sensitive receptors). If the plankton "lies" in deep layers of soil, the mollusk gets to it by digging a hole. Animals pass through the areas of the bottom that are poor in food quickly, collecting nutrient particles from its surface layer.

Sea stalks live in large colonies, forming "trepang fields". Moreover, in calm weather, they massively crawl out onto muddy-sandy areas (next to stone cliffs), and in stormy weather they hide on solid ground in rock crevices and root thickets of algae.

Trepangs are resistant to temperature fluctuations in water bodies. They withstand from minus 5 degrees to 28 degrees above zero. If a holothurian is frozen into ice and then gradually thawed, it will survive.

The average lifespan of a sea cucumber is 10 years.

reproduction

Trepangs, especially those from the Far East, are highly prolific. In one spawning period, an individual can lay 65-75 million eggs. These molluscs are dioecious, but outward signs they are difficult to distinguish. During the mating season, they form pairs, crawling onto a near-water hill (cliffs of rocks, clusters of mussels, stone cliffs, rhizomes of algae). After fertilization, holothurians attach their hind legs to the substrate. At the same time, they raise the front part of the body up, taking an S-shaped "spawning" posture. The timing of reproduction directly depends on the habitat. Mating of mollusks living off the southern coast of 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 fall into "hibernation". Animals are in a state of "stupor" for 1-1.5 months. Then they come out of their hiding places, starting to feed heavily.

In larvae, after 3 weeks of planktonic life, rudiments of 5 tentacles appear around the mouth (pentactula stage). Thanks to these processes, they settle on the thalli of grasses 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 acquires a characteristic "worm-like" shape. By the end of the first year of life, trepangs reach a length of 4-5 cm, and by the end of the second summer - 13-15 cm. Puberty in young individuals occurs in the third year of life.

Chemical composition

Holothuria is a healthy dietary product, 100 grams of which contains 34 kilocalories.

However, despite the low energy performance, trepang has a high nutritional value(due to the high content of protein, bacterial components, micro and macro elements).

The concentration of proteins in trepang tissues varies within 8-10% of body weight. At the same time, most of the composition of the protein fraction is occupied by collagen-like structures. These substances are distinguished by a high concentration of free ( , ).

In addition, trepang tissues contain triterpene saponins (structural components of immunomodulating plants: ginseng, eleutherococcus, zamaniha). Thanks to these compounds, mollusk meat has bactericidal, hemolytic, cytotoxic, antitumor and immunocorrective properties.

Due to the unique chemical composition, in China, trepang is called "sea ginseng".

Product usefulness

The healing properties of trepang have been known to mankind since time immemorial. However, information about its medicinal value of the product penetrated into Europe only at the end of the 16th century (from the culture ancient China). Healers of oriental medicine used an extract from the mollusk as a powerful stimulant and tonic. In addition, the imperial dynasties of China used trepang infusion as a rejuvenating elixir (to prolong the period of reign). Interestingly, in ancient times, such drugs were treated as miraculous sources of vitality.

Currently, the medicinal value of trepang has been confirmed by numerous experimental and clinical research. Considering that animal tissues contain 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, hypotensive. To improve the body, you can use both ready-made store-bought mixtures and drugs created at home.

Preparation of medicinal tincture (with):

1. Clean the fresh carcass from the skin and entrails. If dried mollusk is used, it is pre-soaked in cold water for 10-12 hours.
2. Cut the prepared meat into small pieces. If desired, you can use a meat grinder.
3. Place the crushed raw materials in a glass or clay container.
4. Pour the meat with natural honey (so that it covers the fillet), mix the mixture thoroughly.
5. Insist in a dark cool place for 1-1.5 months.

Properly prepared medicine has a dark saturated color and a thick (heterogeneous) consistency.

AT medicinal purposes the mixture is consumed twice a day, 15 ml 20 minutes before meals. The duration of therapy is 1 month. Three weeks later, 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 immunity (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 trepang extract, it is important to control the heart rate. If necessary, a sedative is consumed at night (to relieve nervous excitement).

Effects of using trepang infusions (subject to the intake scheme):

• strengthens the immune system, enhances the body's resistance to pathogens;
• stabilizes arterial pressure;
• normalizes lipid and cholesterol metabolism;
• improves visual acuity;
• stimulates the regeneration of damaged layers of the dermis (including bone tissue);
• lowers blood levels
• stimulates male potency;
• improves performance thyroid gland;
• increases vitality;
• accelerates the removal of carcinogens from the body;
• reduces intensity inflammatory processes(in the hearth);
• improves the psycho-emotional background;
• has an antibacterial effect;
• increases the antitumor defense of the body, slows down the growth of neoplasms.

Along with oral intake, trepang extract is used to disinfect the outer integument of the body. Namely, for processing skin rashes, rinses oral cavity(after dental interventions), nasal instillation, lubrication of the walls of the vagina (with myoma).

Remember, trepang extract should not be used for hyperthyroidism and allergies to bee and marine products.

How to cook a delicacy?

Trepangs are great for all types of cooking: boiling, stewing, baking, marinating and salting. The muscular membrane of the animal, freed from the skin and viscera, is used for food. On the basis of sea cucumber, both independent snacks (cold and hot), and multi-component side dishes, marinades, dressings and first courses are prepared. Trepang meat is combined with all seafood, spicy sauces, onions, tomato paste, vegetables.

Holothuria goes on sale mainly in dried or frozen form. Let's consider how to properly cook the mollusk.

Preparatory stage:

1. Rinse the carcasses under running water (to wash off the charcoal powder).
2. Soak meat in fresh liquid for 24 hours. At the same time every 3-4 hours to change the water.
3. Rinse soaked carcasses, pour new liquid, put on the stove.
4. Boil the clam meat for 60 seconds on low heat, then remove from heat, insist in broth (for 20 hours).
5. Drain the used fluid. Gut half-finished carcasses.
6. Rinse cut product cold water and then weld again for 60 seconds over low heat.
7. Insist trepang in the original liquid for 20 hours (repeatedly).

If after a two-day processing cycle the meat is hard (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. The full processing cycle of dried sea cucumbers takes from 2 to 7 days (depending on the degree of contamination).

When using frozen carcasses, they are pre-thawed on the top shelf of the refrigerator or in warm water (at a temperature of 10-15 degrees). Then the raw material is cut and washed under running water. After that, the product is boiled in several changes of liquid (3-6 times). This process is repeated until the broth stops turning black (due to the 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, they monitor the cleanliness of the dishes, since when in contact with fats, the product quickly deteriorates.

The period of storage of trepangs at temperatures from 0 to + 5 degrees is 3-4 days. To increase the shelf life (up to 2 months), the finished meat is placed in the freezer. - 15 milliliters;

Cooking scheme:

1. Boil trepangs (after pre-soaking).
2. Prepare marinade. To do this, pre-peel the vegetables from the peel. Then the carrots are grated, the onion is cut into rings, the greens are chopped with 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 that, vinegar, water, sugar, seasonings and herbs are added to the roast. After boiling, the dressing is heated for 15 minutes.
3. Add chopped sea cucumbers to the hot marinade. Simmer the mixture over low heat for 5-10 minutes.

The dish can be served both cold and 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 scheme:

1. Boil sea cucumbers in three changes of water (after daily soaking).
2. Fry trepangs in vegetable oil (for 5 minutes).
3. Chop vegetables. Cut cabbage into half rings, potatoes into “straws”, carrots and zucchini into cubes. Grate the tomatoes.
4. Fry the vegetable mixture over low heat (5 minutes).
5. Combine cabbage, carrots, zucchini and potatoes with trepangs, add salt and seasonings.
6. Put the prepared mass on a baking sheet. Pour in tomato sauce.
7. Bake the dish in the oven for 20 minutes (at a temperature of 180 degrees).
8. Sprinkle the semi-finished dish with cheese, coat with mayonnaise (10 minutes before readiness).

Serve roast with tomato juice and pickled mushrooms.

Conclusion

Trepang is the most valuable echinoderm mollusk that lives in the coastal waters of the Japan, 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. Due to the unique combination of nutrients, trepang meat is used to slow down natural processes aging, reducing irritability, accelerating regeneration skin, increase vitality. Along with this, seafood provides invaluable support thyroid gland, brain, reproductive organs, cardiovascular system. To get a pronounced therapeutic effect an extract or extract is prepared from a fresh mollusk (you can use ready-made tinctures).

Preparations based on trepang should be used for reduced immunity, beriberi, adhesive processes, chronic fatigue syndrome, purulent wounds, rheumatoid arthritis, impotence, mastopathy. In addition to the medicinal and nutritional properties, the meat of the "pod" has an exquisite fish and shrimp taste. In view of this, it is actively used in cooking (especially in East Asia). It is excellent for all types of food processing: baking, frying, boiling, drying, salting, preserving and marinating. Soups, hodgepodges, side dishes, salads, pie fillings, sauces, marinades are prepared from echinoderm molluscs. 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).

Trepangs - an amazing ability to regenerate

Amazing echinoderms live at the bottom of the salty seas. An outer skeleton of thousands of calcareous plates protects these slow-moving seabed dwellers. Echinoderms appeared on our planet more than 450 million years ago and were able to survive in species struggle thanks to unique restorative abilities. Scientists have found that since the Paleozoic period, echinoderms have been able to completely restore damaged structures in case of injury or loss of any organs and tissues. Paleontologists managed to find numerous specimens of fossilized echinoderms, in which restored parts were found.

Echinoderms were able to survive in the world of marine predators also thanks to their amazing ability to change the body wall, they can become rigid to protect themselves from predators, or soft and plastic to hide in hard-to-reach places. Modern echinoderms of holothurians can restore tentacles, legs, spines, heal skin wounds, they can even restore internal organs. According to Chinese scientists, holothurian echinoderms can fully recover from a small fragment, even if they are cut into two or three parts. Echinoderms include the sea urchin, starfish, sea lily, serpentine, and sea cucumber, which is also called for its body shape sea ​​cucumber.

Edible holothurians - trepangs

Among different breeds holothurians are a very valuable commercial breed - trepang. Trepangs are those types of holothurians that can be eaten. Trepang has long been valued as a food product and medicine in traditional oriental medicine.

Trepangs- these are peaceful and harmless creatures, they live in the Far Eastern salty seas at a shallow depth, near the coast, hiding in thickets of algae and in rock crevices. Trepang cannot live in fresh water, it is fatal for him. Even slightly salty seas do not suit him.

Trepangs are a valuable food product

The thick walls of trepang are used for food. Its soft, lean meat is rich in vitamins and minerals. Trepangs are eaten raw, salted and dried. Trepang meat has long been part of the diet of peoples living in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories. So, the Udege (“forest people”, they call themselves - udee, udehe) traditionally mined sea kale and trepangs on the seashore. Meat and fish have always been the main food of the Udege. Despite the fact that the modern diet of the Udee people has been replenished with bread, confectionery, cereals, vegetables and fruits, trepangi and wafa (red fish caviar) remain the favorite dishes of the Udege people. The Udege cook a lot of dishes from trepang, they roast it, boil it, salt it and dry it.

Trepang meat contains 4-10% protein, about 0.7% fat, calorie content - 34.6 Kcal. More than 50 elements necessary for the human body were found in trepang meat.

Trepang meat contains a thousand times more copper and iron compounds than fish, and a hundred times more iodine than other sea creatures.

Trepangi - an ancient healing remedy of oriental medicine

Far Eastern trepang (Apostichopusjaponicus) The Chinese call sea ginseng "hai-shen" for its medicinal properties. This animal is also very popular in Japan, in this country in 2003 a book was published with a thousand Japanese three-line haiku about holothurians. Among the Eastern peoples, it is believed that one who constantly eats trepang meat forgets about age and loses count of his years.

Trepang, living in South Sakhalin and Vladivostok, is the only animal on Earth that has absolutely sterile cells, that is, they do not contain any viruses or bacteria. The most common type of holothurian in the Sea of ​​Japan is Far Eastern holothurian.

Modern trepang, like its distant ancestors, is able to regenerate itself from every third of its body; within 2-3 months, this amazing holothurian can restore all internal organs without consuming any food or oxygen.

The healing properties of trepangs

For the first time, the healing properties of trepang were described in the 16th century in the Chinese book Wu Tza-Tzu. Trepangs have been used as food and medicine since time immemorial. The trepang has no enemies, as its tissues are oversaturated with microelements, which are toxic for marine predators and most valuable for medicinal purposes. Unique substances increase the body's resistance to infections, help with intoxication, normalize blood pressure, improve performance of cardio-vascular system, reduce blood sugar levels in diabetes, normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and the genitourinary system, and also have anti-herpes properties. For medicinal purposes, trepang is also used to activate immune system, with diseases of the musculoskeletal system, prostate adenoma, periodontal disease, diseases of the ENT organs.

AT traditional medicine In China, trepang meat and remedies made from it are advised to be taken at the time of the day when certain organs are most active. Yes, from one to three in the morning best time for the treatment of the liver, gallbladder, vision, spleen, joints. From three to five in the morning - the time of the large intestine, nose, skin and hair. From five to seven in the morning - it is advised to treat diseases small intestine. From eight to nine in the morning they are activated Bone marrow and stomach. From nine to eleven in the morning, the pancreas and thyroid glands are activated. From eleven in the morning to one in the afternoon, trepang is advised to be taken to normalize the functioning of the heart, blood vessels, psyche and sleep, and sexual functions. Active from 3pm to 5pm bladder and gynecological organs, as well as bones and blood. From five to seven in the evening, the turn of the kidneys comes, then from seven to eight in the evening all the vessels are active. From 9 pm it is time for the normalization of sexual functions.

How to cook trepang

Culinary processing of trepang meat is diverse, they can be boiled, stewed, fried and marinated. Trepang broth is used for making soups, borscht, pickles. Trepang meat gives soups a flavor that resembles the taste of canned fish. Almost all dishes, stewed, fried, marinated, and even soups, are prepared from pre-cooked sea cucumbers. For medicinal purposes, it is best to stew sea cucumbers, with this method of preparation useful material pass into the broth, and it acquires medicinal properties.

Sea cucumber ice cream must first be thawed on the top shelf of the refrigerator, then it is prepared in the same way as fresh - cut lengthwise and washed thoroughly. Rinse dried sea cucumber until the water runs clear to wash off the powdered charcoal used in drying. After washing, the trepangs are soaked for a day in cold water, changing the water three to four times.

For cooking, trepangs are thrown into salted boiling water. After about three minutes of cooking, the broth turns black due to the very high iodine content in the sea cucumber, after which it must be drained. This is repeated several times until the broth stops turning black. The main thing is not to digest the trepang for more than three minutes, so as not to spoil the taste and texture of the meat.

The remarkable properties of trepang are used in many dietary supplements, including to increase male potency. For example, the complex includes an enzymatic hydrolyzate of trepang. In this form, all the useful substances of trepang and other components are absorbed as much as possible.

Description

Trepang (from lat. Holothuroidea) is an invertebrate animal of the echinoderm type, outwardly similar to a giant hairy caterpillar, also called a sea egg or sea cucumber. Trepangs live in the coastal waters of the East China, Yellow, Japan Seas, off the Pacific coast of Japan, near the southern coast of Sakhalin and Kunashir. In Russia, a massive concentration of trepangs is located near Vladivostok in the Peter the Great Bay, which has many bays and small islands. The water in the bay warms up to 26C in summer, microscopic algae develop in it, which then die off, fall to the bottom and become food for trepang. The sea cucumber has a worm-like body, at one end of which is a mouth with a corolla of 18-20 tentacles designed to capture food. It has elastic, dense skin with numerous calcareous formations - spicules, similar to perforated turrets and disks. On the back of the trepang there are spikes ending in light spines, which you can easily prick (hence the name - echinoderms). The color is different, from yellowish, dark green to dark brown or black. The ventral side is lighter, sometimes there are blue or variegated trepangs with a marbled color. It has been noticed that brown trepangs live on rocks and stones, and greenish ones on muddy ground. The animal reaches a length of 40 cm and a width of up to 9 cm, weight is about 1.5 kg, and life expectancy is 8-10 years.

Trepangs are found at depths up to 150 m, although most of them live near the coast at depths of less than 20 m. They prefer bays protected from storms, with rocky placers and mud flats. It is found in thickets of algae, sea grasses and mussel settlements. It feeds on dead plankton cells, particles of algae with microorganisms living on them. At the same time, he himself is food for large starfish (Amur and Easteria). This is an exclusively benthic, inactive, crawling animal, very sensitive to a decrease in water salinity. It dies in fresh water. It moves like a caterpillar: first it pulls up its hind legs and sticks them to the ground, then it tears off the middle and front legs from the surface and throws them forward. The sea cucumber has one interesting feature: cut into three parts and thrown into the water, it restores the missing parts of the body. The result is three new live animals. Individuals reach sexual maturity at five years of age. Spawning occurs in July-August at a water temperature of at least 21C. One female is capable of laying about 77 million eggs, after which, exhausted and thin, she hides in a shelter and lies there until mid-autumn.

Trepangs are eaten mainly in Japan and China. Annual production in the Pacific Ocean is up to 10 thousand centners. Animals are caught with the help of drags, special trawls, nets, and divers dive specifically for them. The thick, but relatively soft walls of the sea egg are eaten. Their meat is low-fat, eaten fresh, salted and dried. You can quickly and tasty stew trepang with onions, after boiling it alternately in fresh and salted water for 10 minutes each. Use when cooking cabbage soup, hodgepodges, salads.

The composition and useful properties of trepang

Trepang meat contains proteins and fats, vitamin B12, riboflavin, thiamine, and is also rich in trace elements: phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, iodine, manganese. The fat of these echinoderms is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and phosphatides. Compared to the meat of oysters and mussels, trepang meat contains less protein, but much more mineral compounds. Thus, trepang contains a thousand times more copper and iron compounds than fish, and a hundred times more iodine compounds than any other marine life. In the Far Eastern countries, this animal is called "sea ginseng", recommended for weakened and overworked people.

First scientific description healing properties trepang appeared in the famous book "Wu-tsza-zu" in the 16th century, which speaks of its therapeutic effect in many serious ailments. Chinese emperors used trepang infusion as a rejuvenating elixir that prolongs life and can increase their time on the throne.

Modern scientists confirm the healing properties of trepang, due to the biologically contained in it active substances that have a rejuvenating and healing effect on a person. Eating the meat of this marine life promotes cell regeneration and rapid renewal of body tissues. Today, pharmacies sell trepang extracts - tinctures with alcohol and natural honey, which are considered biologically active additives to food. They are recommended for use by the elderly to enhance immunity, as well as people with diseases of the heart, thyroid gland, brain, intestines, respiratory and skeletal systems. Antioxidant properties of trepang extract inhibit the growth of malignant tumors.

Contraindications

Individual intolerance to seafood. In addition, due to the high content of iodine in trepang meat, people with hyperthyroidism should be careful when using it.

Trepang (Far Eastern) is an invertebrate animal of the echinoderm type. The skeleton is greatly reduced. The body of the trepang is elongated in cross section, almost trapezoidal, somewhat flattened, especially in the lower part, worm-like; at one end is the mouth, at the other - the anus. The mouth is surrounded by a corolla of 18-20 tentacles that serve to capture food, and leads to a long tubular intestine. The skin of the trepang is dense, elastic, contains numerous calcareous formations called spicules. All internal organs are enclosed in a thick leathery bag. The dorsal side bears soft conical outgrowths - dorsal papillae, collected in 4 rows.

In length it can reach 45 cm, and in width up to 10 cm, weighing up to 1.5 kg.

Sexual maturity occurs in the 2nd year of life, life expectancy is up to 10-11 years.

It lives in the northern part of the Yellow and East China Seas, most of the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan, in the eastern coast of Japan and the southernmost part of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the coastal zone of the Kuril Islands and south of central Sakhalin. It occurs at depths from the water's edge to 150 m.

Useful properties of trepang

Trepang meat contains proteins, fats, vitamin B12, thiamine, riboflavin, mineral elements, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iodine, iron, copper, manganese. Trepang fat is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, phosphatides.

In Eastern medicine, trepang has long been used as effective remedy against many serious ailments and due to its therapeutic effect, it was aimed on a par with ginseng. The healing properties of trepang are reflected in its Chinese name "Heishen" - "sea root" or "sea ginseng". References to the miraculous properties of trepang are found in treatises of the 16th century.

The ancient imperial dynasties of China used trepang infusion as a rejuvenating elixir that prolongs life. Studies have confirmed that trepang tissues are ideally saturated with microelements and biologically active substances, which explains the rejuvenating effect. According to the composition of mineral substances, no known organism can compare with trepang.

Trepang infusion on honey is a natural substance. An extract in a liquid state, which allows you to bring the healing components of sea ginseng to all human organs and systems.

Dried sea cucumbers are sold, coated with coal dust to protect them from spoilage. Such trepangs are kept in cold water for 24-30 hours, changing the water 2-3 times; while they increase in volume several times. Before cooking, cut the abdomen and clean out the remnants of the entrails. Cook for 2-3 hours until the meat is soft. Then it is used for cooking. Trepangs are put in cabbage soup, pickles, saltworts, salads, baked with vegetables, stewed with onions.

One of the first scientific descriptions of the healing properties of trepang appeared in the 16th century. in the famous book Wu Tza Tzu. The emperors of many eastern countries believed that eating trepang dishes could increase their time on the throne. Modern scientists and researchers believe that the healing properties of trepang are due to the biologically active substances contained in it. It is these substances that have a healing and rejuvenating effect on the human body.

The use of trepang in food contributes to the rapid renewal of cells and tissues of the body. Cooking trepang is very simple. It must be boiled alternately in fresh and salted water for ten minutes each, and then peeled and stewed with onions or tomato paste. The quenching time depends on what consistency you want to get trepang: the longer you stew it, the softer it becomes.

Dangerous properties of trepang

Trepang extract is not advised to use in case of individual intolerance, as well as at the age of 15 years, during pregnancy and lactation.

Trepang should not be abused with hypotension, as this product significantly reduces pressure.

Also, doctors do not advise using trepang with hyperfunction of the thyroid gland, since its excess can cause an exacerbation of this disease.

An entertaining video showing the process of growing trepangs, the number of which has decreased significantly in recent years, in Primorsky Krai.

Holothurians differ from other echinoderms in their oblong, worm-like, less often spherical shape, the absence of protruding spines, and the reduction of the skin skeleton to small calcareous "bones" that occur in the body wall. The five-ray symmetry of the body in holothurians is masked by the bilateral arrangement of many organs.

The body of the holothurian is leathery to the touch, usually rough and wrinkled. The body wall is thick and elastic, with well-developed muscle bundles. The longitudinal muscles (5 bands) are attached to the calcareous ring around the esophagus. At one end of the body is the mouth, at the other - the anus. The mouth is surrounded by a corolla of 10-30 tentacles that serve to capture food, and leads to a spirally twisted intestine. For breathing, the ambulacral system and the so-called water lungs are branched sacs that open into the cloaca in front of the anus.

Unlike other echinoderms, holothurians lie “on their sides” at the bottom, while the side bearing three rows of ambulacral legs (trivium) is ventral, and the side with two rows of ambulacral legs (bivium) is dorsal. In deep-sea holothurians, the ambulacral legs can be greatly elongated and used as stilts. Some species move due to peristaltic contractions of the muscles of the body wall, pushing off the ground with protruding calcareous bones.

Most holothurians are black, brown or greenish in color. Body length varies from 3 cm to 1-2 meters, although one species (Synapta maculata) reaches 5 m.

Lifestyle and nutrition

Holothurians are sedentary or crawling animals found in almost any part of the ocean - from the coastal strip to deep-water depressions; most numerous in tropical coral reef environments. Most species are bottom-dwelling, but there are also pelagic ones. Usually they lie "on their side", raising the anterior, oral end. Holothurians feed on plankton and organic residues extracted from bottom silt and sand, which is passed through the digestive canal. Other species filter their food with sticky mucus-covered tentacles from the bottom waters.

With strong irritation, the back of the intestine is thrown out through the anus along with the water lungs, scaring away or distracting the attackers; lost organs are quickly restored. In some species, Cuvier tubules containing toxins are also ejected. Holothurians are preyed upon by starfish, gastropods, fish and crustaceans. In the water lungs of some species, fish settle - fieraspheres (Fierasfer); sometimes pea crabs (Pinnotheres).

Economic importance

Some species holothurians(Total about 30 kinds), especially from the genera Stychopus and Cucumaria, are eaten under the name " sea ​​cucumbers».

The main trepang fisheries are concentrated mainly off the coast of Japan and China, in the waters of the Malay Archipelago, off the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean, near the Philippine Islands. Less significant trepang fisheries are carried out in the Indian Ocean, in the Red Sea, off the coast of America, Africa, Australia and Italy. In the Far Eastern seas, 2 species of edible holothurians are mined ( Stichopus japonicus and Cucumaria japonica), which are used to prepare canned and dried foods. The musculoskeletal sac of holothurians, previously subjected to long-term processing by boiling, drying, and in some countries smoking, is more often used for food. Broths and stews are prepared from such semi-finished products. In Italy, fishermen eat fried holothurians without subjecting them to complex pre-processing. Raw edible holothurians are used as food in Japan, where, after removing the entrails, they are cut into slices and seasoned with soy sauce and vinegar. In addition to the skin-muscle sac, the inhabitants of Japan and the Pacific Islands use the intestines and gonads of edible holothurians, which are more valuable, for food. Some modern European firms make various canned food from holothurians, which are in great demand. World fishing Stichopus japonicus in 1981 amounted to 8098 million tons. In addition to fishing, breeding of holothurians is also practiced, in particular in Russia on Far East. The trepang has a peculiar shape and reaches a length of 30-40 cm. The back of the trepang is covered with five rows of soft tentacles, and there are numerous legs with suction cups on the abdomen. The color of trepang is light brown or grayish.

Toxins produced by holothurians are of interest for pharmacology. Fishermen in the Pacific Islands use poisonous Cuvier pipes of some species when fishing.

In Chinese medicine, known for its non-trivial approach to healing, trepangs have been used for more than one millennium. The unique composition of its meat includes ingredients that make trepang an excellent adaptogen. If without scientific buzzwords, then according to its properties, sea cucumber meat contains many substances that can increase the body's nonspecific resistance to a fairly wide range of harmful effects of a physical, chemical and biological nature. It is for this reason that the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire call trepang “sea ginseng”.

The average weight of trepang is about 135 g, but it can vary from 50 to 300 g depending on the place and time of the catch.

Trepang meat is highly valued by the Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Indians, Malays and Filipinos. It is used in dried form. Trepang meat is distinguished by high nutritional value, it contains 34-40% protein, 2-4% fat, 2.5-3% carbohydrates.

The musculoskeletal sac of holothurians is more often used for food, and before use it is subjected to long-term processing by boiling, drying, and in some countries even smoked. The resulting semi-finished products are used in the preparation of broths and stews.

In Chinese cuisine, various hot dishes and side dishes for broths are prepared from trepangs.

Italian fishermen eat fried holothurians without subjecting them to complex pre-processing. In Japan, edible sea cucumbers are eaten raw, with the insides removed, and seasoned with soy sauce and vinegar. In addition to the skin-muscle sac, the inhabitants of Japan and the Pacific Islands use the intestines and gonads of edible holothurians, which are more valuable, for food. Some modern European firms make various canned food from holothurians, which are in great demand.

TREPANG FAR EASTERN
(Stichopus japonicus)

It should be noted that the Far Eastern trepang has a high fecundity: up to 77 million eggs can develop in the gonads of one individual. Far Eastern sea cucumbers have separate sexes, but females and males are outwardly completely indistinguishable. When spawning, they form pairs and tend to crawl onto some objects that rise above the ground surface - ledges of rocks, stones, clusters of mussels or oysters, rhizomes of algae. The pairs approach each other, and then each holothurian is firmly attached by the ambulacral legs of the posterior end of the body to the substrate, and the anterior end is lifted upwards; as a result, the animals assume a characteristic S-shaped posture. In this position, holothurians vigorously sway from side to side, sometimes touching their mouth tentacles, and finally begin to release their sex products into the water. The timing of the start of spawning and its duration are not the same in different parts of the range. So, in Peter the Great Bay, spawning begins in July and continues until August, in the Yellow Sea - in June, and in more southern regions off the coast of Japan - in April - June or March - April. Older and larger individuals start breeding somewhat earlier than young ones. Spawning occurs in small portions within one to three days. Immediately after this, holothurians hide in a shelter, stop eating and fall into "hibernation". This is not true hibernation, but rather a state of reduced activity when the animals stop feeding. This state of stupor in the Far Eastern trepang lasts about a month, after which the severely weakened holothurians crawl out of their shelters and begin to feed intensively. The larvae, after three weeks of planktonic life at the pentactula stage with five small rudiments of tentacles around the mouth, settle on the thalli of anfeltia or rhizoids of other algae, on the stems of sea grass and turn into young holothurians (fry). The fry have a small number of legs on the ventral surface and several outgrowths on the back. As animals grow, the number of legs increases, the body takes on the shape characteristic of adult animals. Growth and nutrition of holothurians continue throughout the winter, and by the end of the first year of life they reach a length of 4 or 5 cm, and by the end of the second year - 15 cm, and it is no longer possible to distinguish them from adults. Far Eastern sea cucumbers live for about 10 years, they begin to breed at the age of three years or a little later, they spend winter and summer in the same places.

The main way to catch Far Eastern sea cucumbers in our waters is diving from specially equipped diving motorboats. Each diver works no more than 2 hours and collects holothurians with the help of a sharp collar into a net suspended from the belt (pitomza). Each pitomza includes about 100 kg, and daily rate the catch is 2.42 centners per motorboat. The timing of fishing for the Far Eastern trepang in the Peter the Great Bay is set from April 15 to July 15 and from September 15 to October 1, which is associated with the peculiarities of the life of this species. Caught sea cucumbers are subjected to very long processing (cleaning, boiling, drying, etc.), which takes 2-3 weeks. Only then is a product suitable for long-term storage and transportation obtained. A variety of dishes are prepared from boiled-dried trepang. Information about the medicinal value of the Far Eastern trepang is found in the literature of the 16th century. Modern studies have shown that extracts from these sea cucumbers have a pronounced biological activity. The biological effect of the chemical compounds contained in the Far Eastern trepang related to triterpene glycosides, hexosamines and lipids has been most fully investigated. In the tissues of this animal species, very valuable pharmacological components were found: methionine, organically bound iodine, vitamins, prostaglandins.

In Japanese Haiku poetry, the name namako, aka trepang, is mentioned more often than the moon, fresh snow, and cherry blossoms. Malay women and mulatto women on Guam gathered trepang by roaming the shallow water and groping for it with their bare feet. Miklouho-Maclay in New Guinea watched the work of naked Papuan trepangolov, diving from dawn to dusk, at gunpoints in the hands of German and Dutch colonial traders. Before the Opium Wars between Britain and China, trepang served as a currency, along with silver, opium and sandalwood, to buy tea, rice, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods. Two American submarines that took part in the Second World War and in the Cold War, one diesel, the other nuclear, were baptized on the stocks called "Trepang".

The cook Confucius, whose name is lost in history, invented a soup recipe with trepang, shark fins, asparagus and other ingredients boiled in chicken broth. This recipe was dedicated to the ancient Chinese heroes and was called "Eight immortal daredevils who crossed the stormy sea, together with the Buddhist monk Arhat"! In the house of the great thinker, this soup was served to the local nobility, colleagues and guests from the imperial court. After 2.5 thousand years, in the city of Cuifu, where the philosopher was born and lived, a restaurant continues to exist, where the mentioned dish is prepared. To cook this soup on your own, for example, in modern Qingdao, you have to spend about $ 1,300 for half a kilogram of dried sea cucumber in the Xinja supermarket.