The Potency and Food Safety of Lamp Shells (Brachiopoda: Lingula sp.) as Food Resources

Abstract

Lamp shells is one of primitive brachiopods that can be found in the tropical region. One species of brachiopod has been reported found in Indonesia. This invertebrate is collected by local people for consumption as well as traded in the local market in the area of the southern shore of Madura Island and the northern shore of East Java, Indonesia. This research aimed to analyze the potency of lamp shells as food resources based on the protein and fat content and to evaluate the food safety based on the content of lead (plumbum) and cadmium. The sample of lamp shells was collected from Probolinggo beach. Fresh samples of flesh and pedicle of lamp shell were kept in a cool box for laboratory analysis. The protein content was analyzed using Kjeldahl method, while the content of fat was analyzed using soxhlet method. In addition, the level of plumbum and cadmium in the flesh and pedicle of lamp shell were tested using atomic adsorption spectroscopy. The results revealed that both of the flesh and the pedicle of lamp shells contained protein, namely 14.02±0.62% and 12.06±0.44% respectively. The flesh contained 1.12±0.13% of fat, meanwhile, the pedicle contained 0.84±0.07% of fat. These nutrient content were comparable other marine invertebrates. It seems that the nutrient content outweighs the content of heavy metal that can be accumulated in the sessile invertebrate. The content of plumbum in the flesh and pedicle of lamp shells were 0.10±0.01 ppm and 0.08±0.01 ppm respectively. Meanwhile, the content of cadmium in the flesh and pedicle of lamp shells were 0.09±0.01 ppm and 0.06±0.01 ppm respectively. These numbers are considerably lower that the level permitted. Hence, it can be concluded that lamp shells has potency as food recources.