Gamat

The word Gamat, the Malay word for sea cucumber, refers to medicinal remedies derived from several species of the Holothuroidea family.

Dried sea cucumber in a Yokohama pharmacy in Japan

Uses

The golden sea cucumber (Stichopus horrens) is commonly used. Tripang Emas is usually the dried, powdered bodies of sea cucumbers made into a lotion or other topical salve.

It is sometimes mixed into clay and applied to the face as a mask treatment, or put in tea and consumed for stomach complaints. Users believe that a solution of sea cucumbers can heal cuts, skin eruptions, and ulcers, and claim that it has a beneficial effect on the immune system.

Scarcity

Sea cucumbers in the waters of Malaysia have been over-harvested to supply consumers of the folk remedy, and as a result the animal and its products are becoming scarce. Efforts to restock the fishery have not generally been successful. Recently, a sea cucumber aquaculture operation was opened on the shores of several Malaysian islands to increase the gamat supply.

See also

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