Acanthaster Planci is an organism on a coral reef that is very importance for the existence of coral population. But, too much population of Acanthaster planci could wipe out the coral existence as well, because coral reef is a food source of this organism. Therefore, the growth of Acanthaster planci needs to be controlled, yet the cost of controlling Acanthaster Planci is high.
One of the alternatives that can be chosen is adding economic values to this Crown-of-thorns starfish, so the cost of controlling Crown-of-thorns starfish can be minimized. This can be done using the bio-active elements of the starfish,” M. Janib Achmad said in his defense during his open doctoral examination on Monday at Faculty of Agriculture UGM(12/07).
In his dissertation titled Isolation and Characteristics of Chemical Structure of Immunomodulatory Compounds of Crown-of-thorns Starfish, Janib researched the role of active chemical compound that is responsible as immunotheraphy from A. Planci. From his research, it is known that secondary metabolite of A. Planci has an important potential for medical and pharmacology.
Immunotherapy chemical compound that was found in A. Planci can help and fix immune balance that is potential to be developed as an agent to face infectious microorganism. Therefore, the use of this organism is very important for coral conservation as well as medical use.
“This research aims to benefit science and technology implementation to use maritime resource for economic matter for medical and aquaculture,” he explained.