A Group of IPB Researchers: the Potential Health Benefits of Taurine Against Diabetes Mellitus
Indonesia is endowed with rich marine biodiversity as well as a fast-growing population and economy. This makes the region a priority for both conservation and sustainable development. The fishery sector is currently exploring seafood such as tuna, shrimp and seaweed, while various types of molluscs are still not desirable to be developed. Mollusks are one of Indonesia’s marine and fishery resources found in coral reefs, mangroves as well as sandy, muddy and rocky ground. Mollusks are invertebrates with soft bodies, divided into foot and visceral section. In economic, mollusks are highly traded, in particular as exports, for example as a nutritious food sources, jewellery, ornaments, specimens and medicine. One example of molluscs is Mussels, they are one of the cheapest and tastiest forms of animal protein available, and their environmental resume is impressive. They require no feed, as they filter plankton and other microscopic nutrients from the water.
According to Prof. Nurjanah, a researcher of the Department of Aquatic Product Technology, of the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, of Bogor Agricultural University (FPIK IPB) explained that shellfish is a food that has high protein content, low calorie value, low fat or low cholesterol with a lower proportion of saturated fats. Contains essential amino acids, vitamin B12 and essential minerals such as iron, zinc and copper. It contains a high-quality protein that includes all of the essential amino acids for human health, making it a complete protein source.
"The distinctive advantage of this type of aggression is the nutritional taurine that is very beneficial to health. Shellfish is an excellent natural source of taurine, and very high levels are typically found in clams, scallops and shrimp. The benefits of taurine are to prevent diabetes, prevent liver damage due to alcohol, healing to vision problems, lowering blood cholesterol levels, normalizing blood pressure and fighting liver disease. Taurine is also very needed at the time of development and growth. Taurine appears to have multiple functions and plays an important role in many physiological processes, such as osmoregulation, immunomodulation and bile salt formation. Taurine analogues/derivatives have recently been reported to have a marked activity on various disorders. Therefore, taurine can be found in almost all infant formulas and supplements contain taurine," she said.
There are several types of shells that are less familiar and have not been developed much utilization. For example shellfish (Meretrix meretrix) in some countries serve as an indicator of heavy metal pollution and for consumption. Snow shells (Pholas dactylus) and tiger snails (Babylon spirata) are one of the export commodities. The shellfish is a potential fishery commodity to be developed, but information on its nutritional content is still very limited.
Therefore, Prof. Nurjanah together with other researchers of the Department of Aquatic Products Technology, namely Asadatun Abdullah, Rizky Chairunisah and Taufik Hidayat of the Department of Fisheries, of the Faculty of Agriculture, of University of Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa, have examined the chemical content and characteristics of shell meat, snow shells and tiger snails. The experiment revealed that the shellfish, snow clam and snail shell contain 15 amino acids consisting of 9 essential amino acids and 6 non essential amino acids.
"Essential amino acids in shellfish, snow shells and tiger snails are histidine, arginine, threonine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, lysine. The non-essential amino acids present in the sample are aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, glycine, alanine and tyrosine. The highest essential amino acid content in meat of shellfish, snow shells and tiger snails are arginine. The highest non essential amino acids in shellfish meat, snow shells and tiger snails are glutamic acid. The content of taurine in snow shell meat is higher than tiger snails and shellfish," she said.
She added that the fat, protein and carbohydrate content of the shellfish were 0.11; 9.39 and 9.02%, snow shells 0.11; 11.37 and 3.55%; tiger snail 0.33; 17.38 and 2.65%. The highest essential amino acids content of shell meat, snow shell and tiger snail are arginine while the highest non-essential amino acid content is glutamic acid. The content of taurine in snow shell meat is higher than tiger snails and shellfish. (Wied)
