Table 3.

Potential health promoting properties and mechanisms of action of sea cucumber phenolics.

Health Effects	Species	Body Parts	Responsible Compounds/Extracts	Results/Mechanisms	References
Anticancer	Holothuria tubulosa	Body wall	Aqueous and methanolic extracts rich in epicatechin and ellagic acid	Inhibited the growth of cancer cell lines and induced apoptosis in A549 (human non-small lung carcinoma) and HeLa (cervix adenocarcinoma) cells	[33]
	Holothuria scabra, Holothuria leucospilota, and Stichopus chloronotus	Sea cucumber without viscera	Aqueous extracts	Inhibited the growth of C33A (human cervical cancer) and A549 cancer cells	[21]
	Stichopus variegatus	Dried sea cucumber	Aqueous extracts	Possessed cytotoxicity on colon cancer cells WiDr, breast cancer cells T47D, and normal cells Vero	[27]
	Holothuria scabra	Dried sea cucumber	Extracts	Exhibited cytotoxic activity against human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB 231)	[23]
DNA oxidation inhibition	Cucumaria frondosa	Dried body wall and internal organs	Acetone extracts rich in phenolic acids and flavonoids	Inhibited hydroxyl and peroxyl radical-induced DNA oxidation	[5,24]
Anti-inflammatory	Apostichopus japonicus	Fresh sea cucumber	Ethyl acetate extract.	Inhibited the productions of NO (nitric oxide) and PGE2 (prostaglandin E2) by inhibiting iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase) and COX-2 (cycloxygenase-2)	[40]
	Holothuria scabra	Dried sea cucumber	Hexanes, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol extracts	Inhibited pro-inflammatory cytokine synthesis	[37]
LDL oxidation inhibition	Cucumaria frondosa	Dried body wall and internal organs	Acetone extracts rich in phenolic acids and flavonoids	Inhibited primary oxidation products, conjugated dienes (CD)	[5,24]
Hepatoprotective and curative	Holothuria atra	Body wall	Phosphate buffer extracts rich in chlorogenic acid	Alleviated the hepatorenal toxicity resulting from DMBA (7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene) hydrocarbon exposure	[31]
	Holothuria atra	Body wall	Organic and aqueous extracts rich in chlorogenic acid	Exhibited hepatoprotective activity against thioacetamide-induced liver fibrosis in a rat model	[30]
Anti-cholestatic	Holothuria arenicola	Body wall	Phosphate buffer extracts rich in chlorogenic acid	Prevented liver damage following cholestasis	[32]
Antibacterial	Holothuria atra	Dried sea cucumber	Hexane, ethyl acetate, and butanol extracts	Showed inhibitory activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa	[36]
	Holothuria forskali	Digestive tract, muscle, body wall, gonad, and respiratory tree	Ethyl-acetate extracts rich in quinic acid	Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis were inhibited	[29]
α-Glucosidase inhibition	Apostichopus japonicus	Dried internal organs	Organic extracts	Showed potential to inhibit α-glucosidase enzyme	[39]
	Cucumaria frondosa	Body wall	Acetone extracts rich in phenolic acids and flavonoids	Slowed down the activity of α-glucosidase enzyme	[5]
Antiglycation	Cucumaria frondosa	Dried body wall and internal organs	Acetone extracts rich in phenolic acids and flavonoids	Controlled the formation of advanced glycation end products(AGEs)	[5,24]
Anti-tyrosinase	Cucumaria frondosa	Dried internal organs	Acetone extracts rich in phenolic acids and flavonoids	Inhibited tyrosinase enzyme	[24]