Impact of Different Combinations of Processing Steps on Product Quality and Proximate Composition of Bêche-de-mer: A Case Study from Sri Lanka

Table 1

Experiment design used to process three different sea cucumber species H. spinifera, B. vitenensis, and S. naso.

Steps	Species
	H. spinifera	B. vitiensis	S. naso
Grading and cleaning	Grading and cleaning ()	Grading and cleaning ()	Grading and cleaning ()
Evisceration	Evisceration—making a small slit in the ventral body region ()	Evisceration—pressing the abdomen ()	Evisceration—carrying out after first boiling making a small slit in the anus ()
First boiling	First boiling (95°C) with two different boiling mediums (S—seawater and F—freshwater with added salt) and 3 different boiling times (T1—10 min, T2—15 min, and T3—20 min), respectively; (1) Seawater (32 ppt) → 10 min, 15 min, and 20 min (); (2) Freshwater with added salt (32 ppt) → 10 min, 15 min, and 20 min ()	First boiling (95°C) with two different boiling mediums (S—seawater and F—freshwater with added salt) and 3 different boiling times (T1—10 min, T2—15 min, and T3—20 min), respectively; (1) Seawater (32 ppt) → 10 min, 15 min, and 20 min (); (2) Freshwater with added salt (32 ppt) → 10 min, 15 min, and 20 min ()	First boiling (95°C) with two different boiling mediums (S—seawater and F—freshwater with added salt) and 3 different boiling times (T1—3 min, T2—6 min, and T3—9 min), respectively; (1) Seawater (32 ppt) → 3 min, 6 min, and 9 min (); (2) Freshwater with added salt (32 ppt) → 3 min, 6 min, and 9 min (); Evisceration—carrying out after first boiling making a small slit in the anus ()
Removal of chalky materials	Removal of chalky materials using two different methods (D—soaking in freshwater and P—mixed with papaya powder); (1) Soaked in freshwater for 8 h and kept 2 h to drain the water, boiled 3 minutes, and brushed the chalky materials (); (2) Mixed papaya powder with boiled sea cucumbers (20 g per 100 individuals), kept 8-10 minutes to dissolve chalky materials ()	Not applicable	Not applicable
Salting	Salting with two different forms (S—solid salt and L—aqueous salt medium, respectively); (1) Salting with solid salt medium (); (2) Salting with aqueous salt medium ()	Salting with two different forms (S—solid salt and L—aqueous salt medium, respectively); (1) Salting with solid salt medium (); (2) Salting with aqueous salt medium ()	Salting with two different forms (S—solid salt and L—aqueous salt medium, respectively); (1) Salting with solid salt medium (); (2) Salting with aqueous salt medium ()
Second boiling	Second boiling for 10 minutes	Second boiling for 10 minutes	Second boiling for 5 minutes
Drying	Drying using two different methods (F—sun drying and T—use of electric dryer, respectively); (1) Sun drying for 5 days (); (2) Use of electric dryer for 15 h ()	Drying using two different methods (F—sun drying and T—use of electric dryer, respectively); (1) Sun drying for 5 days (); (2) Use of electric dryer for 15 h ()	Drying using two different methods (F—sun drying and T—use of electric dryer, respectively); (1) Sun drying for 3 days (); (2) Use of electric dryer for 12 h ()