| Summary: | Sea cucumber is a marine resource that is little or not used in portuguese and European diet, in contrast to what happens in asia, where these animals play an important role as a food resource (high nutritional value) and also in traditional medicine (as a nutraceutical important source). So, sea cucumbers have been subjected to more extensive research all over the world. The value of the sea cucumber as a potential marine resource in Portugal and Europe, was the main goal of this thesis, as a contribution to generate initial data on the nutritional and nutra- ceutical quality of the species present on the portuguese coast. It is repported four species with commercial value existing in Portugal, namely Holothuria arguinensis, Holothutia forskali, Ho- lothuria mammata and Parastichopus regalis. This thesis evaluated all of them distributed along Sesimbra coast (blue coast) using scuba diving to collect the samples. In general, the results showed relevant data similar to the Asian species. The level of protein, carbohydrate, ash, mi- nerals and total lipids showed an important source of proteins, high mineral content (high amount of ash) and with a low lipid content (prevailing PUFA) both in summer and winter seasons. Bioaccessibility of mineral nutrients and contaminants was carried out using an in vitro simulation of human digestion. This was carried out summer and winter to verify whet- her the absorption is influenced by seasonality. The first step to evaluate bioactive compounds (antioxidant and anti-inflammatorycompounds with special focus on polyphenolic substan- ces) was to analyze the best extraction method using different types of solvents. The second step was to compare the bioactive activity of sea cucumbers with another group of animals (tunicates). The third step was to test the same extracts for their ability to promote bone for- mation and mineralization in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Once the best method of extraction and the bioactive compounds present had been identified, the fourth and final step ...
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