Sea urchin

The sea urchin (Echinoidea) is a unique animal that lives in the depths of the salty waters of the seas and oceans. Most of its species, despite the frightening “prickly” appearance, are absolutely safe for humans. Some can even be picked up without fear of injury from sharp needles. Others have such small spines that they seem velvety to the touch, but there are also poisonous representatives of these marine inhabitants. It is a useful object in terms of cooking and medicine, and it is also popular for cosmetic purposes. Sea urchin caviar is considered especially useful and valuable. ^[1].

Description and habitat

Sea urchins have a rounded body, reaching up to 30 cm in size. From above, it is covered with a calcareous shell or shell, which allows you to change the shape of the body ^[2]. According to their structure, sea urchins are divided into correct and incorrect. The correct ones have an almost perfectly round body and five-beam symmetry, while the irregular ones have a flatter body with distinguishable front and rear ends. ^[3].

Needles of various lengths are movably connected to the shell of the sea urchin, which makes it look like a land relative or porcupine. Needles mainly serve for protection, locomotion and nutrition. ^[4]. Also on the surface of the shell of hedgehogs are pedicellaria and special organs necessary for balance – spheridium.

Some species of echinoderms are equipped with venom glands, and a meeting with such representatives can end in failure. They live mainly in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans.

The sea urchin’s mouth is in the upper part of the body. It has a special chewing apparatus that allows you to scrape algae from stones, and also serves as a support for the movement of the animal. Such a structure is characteristic of regular sea urchins, and the wrong ones, feeding on detritus, do not have such a device.

The intestine is a spiral tube that runs inside the body. For breathing, the hedgehog uses external gills, the ambulacral system, and the adnexa. The organs of touch and smell are poorly developed. In addition to spheridia and ambulacral legs, the hedgehog has small eyes on the upper side of the body.

Sea urchins are widely distributed in fairly salty seas and oceans. They live at depths up to 7 km. You can often find them on coral reefs and shallows, as well as in the coastal zone. They settle in rocks and deep crevices, digging holes for themselves even in hard granite. Irregular hedgehogs prefer soft sandy soil, in which they also successfully burrow. You will not meet sea urchins in the slightly saline waters of the Black, Caspian and Baltic Seas.

Nutrition and Lifestyle

Basically, sea urchins are omnivores. They feed on algae, a variety of marine organisms, molluscs, starfish, and even eat their own kind. Those species that settle in sandy burrows can swallow sand and eat small organisms that have fallen with it.

Hiding in the needles of sea urchins, some marine microorganisms thereby create a cozy defense against predators. The hedgehog is also an easy prey for parasitic mollusks that drill through its shell and feed on delicate tissues.

A terrible enemy of the sea urchin is considered to be a sea otter – a predatory sea otter. He is so addicted to eating these animals that even their bones turn purple with hedgehog pigments. The sea otter either breaks the hedgehogs with stones, or at first twirls it in its paws for a long time, wrapping it with seaweed to crush the needles, and then bites into it with its teeth. Also unsafe for hedgehogs are lobsters, starfish, fish, birds, and fur seals.

Hedgehogs are dioecious animals that breed with caviar, laying it in shallow water or coastal cliffs.

The average life span of sea urchins is approximately 15 years. There are legends that tell about the immortality of hedgehogs, according to which adults did not experience any changes and signs of aging.

Composition and useful properties

The sea urchin is valued for its rich vitamin and mineral composition. It feeds on healthy seaweed, thereby accumulating in itself all the valuable substances and trace elements that are present in its caviar.

Sea urchin caviar contains useful minerals such as:

• potassium;
• calcium;
• magnesium;
• zinc;
• iron;
• phosphorus;
• iodine.

Vitamins A, E, D, vitamins of group B (thiamine, riboflavin, and others) are present in large quantities. It is a rich source of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, as well as essential and non-essential amino acids (phenylalanine, glutamic acid, glycine) ^[5].

The calorie content of the product is about 86 kcal per 100 grams. The protein content is approximately 13,8 grams, fat accounts for 4,3 grams, and carbohydrates – 2,5 grams ^[6].

Regular consumption of sea urchin caviar will bring invaluable benefits to the human body. The lecithin included in its composition has a positive effect on the functioning of the liver, brain, helps to get rid of harmful and dangerous toxins, toxins, lowers cholesterol ^[7]. The omega fatty acids contained in it will charge you with energy and vivacity, help you cope with depression, restore cheerfulness and optimism. The high content of iodine contributes to the stable functioning of the endocrine system and is the prevention of thyroid diseases. Sea urchin caviar has the ability to remove toxins, radionuclides and harmful substances from the body, helps to restore the body after chemotherapy and radiation sickness. This product was often included in the diet of the Japanese after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Application in medicine

The healing properties of sea urchin caviar have been noticed and appreciated for a long time. This product contains so many useful substances, vitamins and minerals that it is often used to treat and prevent various diseases. ^[8]. Studies by scientists in the field of oncological diseases have shown that some substances contained in sea urchin caviar can affect cancer cells, while healthy cells undergo a kind of cleaning. ^[9], ^[10].

Regular consumption of caviar of these animals contributes to:

• normalization of blood pressure;
• increase potency;
• removal of harmful substances, radionuclides and toxins from the body;
• improving immunity and improving the protective function of the body;
• improving thyroid and sexual function;
• normalization of the cardiovascular system;
• recovery of the body after radiation and chemotherapy;
• prevention of gastritis, ulcers, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract ^[11], ^[12].

Russian scientists from the Center for Space Research have developed special tablets based on the healing properties of sea urchin caviar, which are used during extreme physical exertion. These pills help astronauts avoid physical and nervous exhaustion during space travel.

Nutritionists from Primorsky Krai have created a strong alcohol tincture based on sea urchin caviar. This product is widely used in medicine as a homeopathic tonic. The medicine helps to increase sexual desire, improves immunity and increases the protective properties of the body. The tincture can help avoid alcohol intoxication. To do this, you need to take it before and after drinking alcohol.

Recipe for sea urchin caviar tincture

The recipe for this tincture is extremely simple. Caviar should be sorted, washed well with warm sea water and poured with a heated alcohol solution with a strength of up to 70% in a ratio of 1:25. The resulting product is left to infuse in a dark place for 4 days at room temperature. The solution is then filtered and settled. In such a tincture, all the beneficial properties of caviar are preserved, and the healing drink acquires them in full.

Cooking application

Sea urchin caviar is used to make sushi, salads and other cold dishes. It is often eaten fresh. If the caviar is bitter, you can add a few drops of lemon juice or soy sauce to it. In European cuisine, caviar undergoes heat treatment: it is fried and baked. From it you can cook:

• Italian pasta or spaghetti;
• pastes;
• various sauces;
• spice.

In Italy, sea urchins are also served with dessert dishes. Granite ice cream, which is made from fruit juice mixed with alcohol, is in great demand. Often, champagne is used for this, which goes well with the caviar of these marine inhabitants.

How to choose and store

When choosing a delicacy, you need to pay attention to the color, smell and appearance of the product. The needles of a fresh hedgehog should stick out in different directions, and not adjacent to the body. The color of the caviar should be orange and should not have an unpleasant odor.

It is best to store caviar in canned form. It is better not to store a fresh product, but to eat it immediately. In the refrigerator or when frozen, the product loses its beneficial properties, acquires a bitter taste, loses elasticity and quality.

Use in cosmetology

It is with the use of sea urchin caviar that the long life expectancy of the Japanese is associated. Japan has a national holiday that takes place once a year. On this day, you must definitely buy a sea urchin and, having opened its shell, drink the liquid contained in it and eat a piece of caviar. Such a ritual allows you to completely rejuvenate and refresh the body.

Sea urchin caviar is considered an elixir of youth and beauty. Sesame, saffron, noni, trepang, perga and yarsagumba also have properties similar to it in action.

The immune system of these marine representatives contributes to their longevity and immortality. ^[13]. They can live up to 35 years (sometimes 200 years) without aging or losing the ability to procreate. ^[14]. Recently, American scientists have found that their DNA is 70% identical to human DNA, so the use of this product gives the opportunity to rejuvenate the body, increase physical and mental abilities.

Harm and Hazardous Properties of Sea Urchins

Thin and sharp needles of hedgehogs are fraught with danger to humans. Stepping on them can be seriously injured, as the needles usually break, leaving small elements in the foot. Some of the hedgehogs are highly poisonous. Once in the human body, the poison negatively affects the nervous system, causes paralysis, slows down the heart and makes breathing difficult.

The victim must immediately provide first aid by pulling out the elements of the needle and pedicellaria, and treating the stung area with an antiseptic solution. It is also recommended to hold the affected area in the hottest water that a person can withstand, since it is believed that the poison decomposes during thermal exposure. It is advisable to take the victim to the hospital as soon as possible, where he will be under constant supervision.

Even without poison, getting a needle under the skin is fraught with unpleasant consequences, since the bacteria at the ends of the needles cause the wound to fester.

Conclusions

The sea urchin is considered an exquisite delicacy in Japan and some eastern countries. Useful and medicinal properties are due to the fact that its daily diet includes algae, due to which its caviar has an exceptional composition of minerals, vitamins and other substances necessary for the human body. Based on it, medicines are prepared, used as a source of youth and beauty in cosmetology, refined dishes are prepared, but most of all they like to eat it raw. In Japan, they believe that it is this use of this product that can prolong life and improve well-being. Recent studies by scientists have proven the exceptional benefits of sea urchins in the fight against cancer cells. Daily use of caviar can restore the body after radiation therapy and chemotherapy and remove dangerous toxins, toxins and radionuclides. There are no contraindications against eating sea urchins, except for individual intolerance or allergic reactions to fish and seafood.

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