Faculty of Science and Technology UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta
Abstract
Squalene is a natural organic compound commonly derived from shark liver oil and widely
used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. As worldwide environmental awareness grows,
the usage of shark liver oil is increasingly being criticised since it has the potential to harm marine
ecosystems. As a result, new technologies will be demanded in the future to lessen reliance on shark
liver squalene manufacturing. Therefore, this paper proposes an alternative process to produce more
sustainable squalene to preserve environmental sustainability and reduce the threat of the extinction
of rare sharks that are widely hunted for the benefit of the industry. This paper proposes a new method
to produce high-quality, non-fish, environmentally friendly, and scalable squalene. The experiment
used methods from Lasiana Beach in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) strain. The strain used has
the potential to produce squalene from the microalgae Aurantiochytrium. The NTT strain used has
the characteristics of round-shaped cells and a yellowish-white cell color. The pure isolate is grown
in the nutrient’s media, consisting of glucose, yeast extract, reef salt, disodium phosphate, ammonium
sulfate, peptone, and a mixture of aquadest. The result of biomass is checked using a microscope, and
there are Aurantiochytrium microalgae cells that have the potential to produce squalene. The result
cell has a diameter of 17.6 μm on the results of main culture. The total weight of biomass produced
was 34.5 grams in 1 liter. The biomass obtained had a fishy smell and a brownish-yellow color. The
results of this study show that the biomass organoleptic characteristics and cell micrographs are
consistent with the results of previous studies. The resulting product, in the form of squalene, can be
further used as a raw material for cosmetics, nutraceuticals, medicines, and vaccines. The results of
this research are very interesting for further study as an environmentally friendly alternative raw
material. This approach will preserve environmental sustainability and reduce the threat of extinction
for the rare shark, which is widely hunted for the benefit of the industry
