Drying Methods of Commercially Valued Sea Cucumbers: Holothuria scabra and Holothuria nobilis

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of drying methods (sun-drying and microwave drying) on the shrinkage ratio of commercially valued sea cucumber - Holothuria scabra and Holothuria nobilis. The shrinkage ratio was derived from the utilization of thirty-six sea cucumber samples obtained from Brgy. Cahayagan, Laoang, Northern Samar with varying sizes to ensure representativeness. Sun-drying was carried out for 24 hours, while microwave drying was performed for 10 minutes at 40°C. Results revealed that as the weight of the samples increases, the shrinkage ratio decreases. Microwave drying also obtained the highest shrinkage ratio at 95%; however, the study also revealed no significant difference in the shrinkage ratio between the sun-dried and microwave-dried sea cucumbers, suggesting that these methods can be used alternately in drying sea cucumber species. &nbsp