UNAIR NEWS – Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences Universitas Airlangga held 1st International Conference on Biotechnology and Food Sciences online via Zoom and Youtube on Friday, September 11, 2020. This first international conference invited Prof. Dr. Hari Eko Irianto from the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Center for Marine and Fisheries Processing and Biotechnology Research, Prof. Kazuo Miyashita, Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University and a researcher from Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences UNAIR Dr. Ir. Woro Hastuti S., MS
Starting the conference, Prof. Hari Eko Irianto revealed that the total fishery resources in Indonesia reached US $82 billion. The biggest profits were from Marine Aquaculture (US $ 46.7 billion) and Marine Biotechnology (US $ 4 billion). Prof. Hari hopes that these resources can be processed and be more useful in processed fish nutrition development.
“With fish, we can prevent stunting (protein deficiency) in children,” he said.
Then, the second keynote speaker was Prof. Kazuo Miyashita. He said the Japanese culture of consuming processed seaweed is very important and used as traditional food ingredients.
“This food culture is a gift from Indonesians since ancient times,” he said.
Seaweed has great nutrition, rich in fiber, minerals, and greater amino acids than land plants, and rich in omega 3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA). The fiber in seaweed is 30% dry weight.
Fiber functions to maintain the digestive tract, especially the intestines, and can reduce LDL cholesterol levels and control blood sugar, then the mineral content (such as potassium) in seaweed is 20% and it can prevent Cardiovascular disease (CVD).
“Potassium can reduce sodium concentrations, which its excess will cause cardiovascular disease (CVD),” said Prof. Kazuo.
He revealed that the biological activity of Fucoxanthin on carotene pigments in seaweed shows anti-obesity and anti-diabetes activities. “This specific activity has not been found other than in this brown seaweed carotene,” he said.
Then, the presentation on the potential and role of marine algae in cultivation was delivered by Dr. Ir. Woro Hastuti S., M.Si. According to her, marine algae is useful in five fields: food, energy materials used as biofuels, environmental indicators, industrial products (cosmetics and biopolymers), and health.
Macroalgae or seaweed is a talus plant used for the production of phycocolloids such as agar and alginate. The presence of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other bioactive compounds is taken up in red and brown microalgae and made into cosmetics.
“Bioactive compounds from marine macroalgae have the potential to be used to increase aquaculture production and development,” concluded Dr. Woro. (*)
Author: R. Dimar Herfano Akbar
Editor: Feri Fenoria Rifa’i
