Sea Cucumber in Malay Traditional Medicine

Malays have traditionally utilized sea cucumber for their medicinal properties and traditional medicines are used in would healing, treatment of stomach and as a painkiller. They are renowned for their medicinal oils, which treat a multitude of ailment.

Sea cucumber or gamat are covered with a very elastic, leathery skin, kept moist by mucus that exudes through the pores; they have a somewhat worm like appearance the radiate structure only visible in the tentacles which usually surround the mouth.

The sea cucumber collected are used for the preparation of traditional medicinal products like gamat water and gamat oil.

Preparation for gamat water involves draining the coelomic fluid from the gamat, which is then returned to the net cages holding them. Animal are only harvested when there is a demand for gamat oil.

The pure type or gamat water is to be consumed orally. It is used to cure all internal ailment such as peptic ulcer, duodenal ulcer, bleeding piles and stomach aches. It also said can enhance body immune system.


The mixed kind or gamat oil is for external application. It is used to quicken the healing process of toothaches, cuts or wounds. Minyak gamat is a liniment prepared with the mixture plus sea cucumber.

The modern world only get to known about sea cucumber when in 1874, scientist on a round the world oceanographic voyage aboard HMS Challenger captured some very odd animals. They did not realize it at the time, but they had found the first known specimens of swimming cucumbers.

Sea cucumber contains 900 species echinoderms with reduced ossicles resulting in a rubbery or leathery skin. Sea cucumbers may be an inch long to three feet or more and squat to wormlike.
Sea Cucumber in Malay Traditional Medicine