Effects of processing on proximate and fatty

acid compositions of six commercial sea

cucumber species of Sri Lanka

G. Nishanthan, P. A. D. A. Kumara,
M. D. S. T. de Croos, D. V. P. Prasada &
D. C. T. Dissanayake

Journal of Food Science and

Technology

ISSN 0022-1155

J Food Sci Technol

DOI 10.1007/s13197-018-3111-4

1 23
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J Food Sci Technol
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-018-3111-4

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effects of processing on proximate and fatty acid compositions

of six commercial sea cucumber species of Sri Lanka
G. Nishanthan1 • P. A. D. A. Kumara2 • M. D. S. T. de Croos3 • D. V. P. Prasada4 •

D. C. T. Dissanayake1

Revised: 25 February 2018 / Accepted: 5 March 2018

Ó Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2018

Abstract Processing and its impacts on proximate com- species having exceptions in Bohadchia sp.1 and fresh S.
position and fatty acid profile of six sea cucumber species; chloronotus. These findings will make a significant con-
Bohadschia marmorata, Stichopus chloronotus, Holothuria tribution to fill the gaps in existing information as no any
spinifera, Thelenota anax, Holothuria scabra and Bohad- previous information is available for species like H. spi-
schia sp. 1 collected from the northwest coast of Sri Lanka nifera and S. chloronotus.
were analyzed. Sea cucumbers are processed into bêche-
de-mer by both domestic and industrial level processors Keywords Bêche-de-mer
Proximate composition
Fatty
following the similar steps of cleaning, evisceration, first acid profile
Processing
Sea cucumbers
boiling, salting, second boiling and drying. However,
domestically processed bêche-de-mer always reported a
higher percentage of moisture, crude ash, crude fat and Introduction
lower percentage of crude protein than industrially pro-
cessed products. Although processing resulted in a signif- Sea cucumbers belonging to class Holothuroidea of the
icant reduction of total SFA and MUFA in fresh phylum Echinodermata are soft-bodied animals comprising
individuals of most of these species, total PUFA increased a diverse group of flexible, elongated, worm-like organ-
significantly in processed individuals excluding Bohad- isms. The catching of sea cucumbers is one of the oldest
schia species. Palmitic acid was found to be the most activities of commercial fisheries in Asian and Pacific
dominant fatty acid in all these species followed by countries (Conand and Byrne 1993). Currently, more than
eicosapentaenoic acid, which showed a significant increase 70 countries engage in sea cucumber fisheries worldwide
in processed products, except Bohadschia sp. 1. Total targeting 66 sea cucumber species reporting an average
MUFA were higher than total SFA in all sea cucumber annual catch of 100,000 tonnes of live animals (Purcell
et al. 2016).
& D. C. T. Dissanayake
Sea cucumbers are traditionally consumed as raw and
[email protected]; [email protected] dried products and the body wall consists of collagen and
mucopolysaccharides is considered as the major edible
1
Department of Zoology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, part. Since sea cucumbers autolyze rapidly after taking out
Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
of water, more than 80% of world harvests are usually
2
Inland Aquatic Resources and Aquaculture Division, processed into a dried product known as bêche-de-mer
National Aquatic Resources Research and Development
Agency (NARA), Crow Island, Colombo 15, Sri Lanka
(Duan et al. 2007) which is produced mainly a process of
3
cleaning, boiling, salting and drying. However, slight dif-
Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries, Wayamba
ferences in the major processing steps were evident
University of Sri Lanka, Makandura, Gonawila 60170, Sri
Lanka depending on the species and geographical regions (Co-
4 nand 1990). An extract of boiled skin, fermented viscera,
Department of Agricultural Economics and Business
Management, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri dry form of ovaries and salted, fermented respiratory trees
Lanka

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of sea cucumbers are also considered as delicacies (Conand processing step and modifications with respect to different
1990). species. Their responses were recorded using an audio
From the nutritional point of view, bêche-de-mer is recorder and confirmed by direct observations.
considered as an ideal tonic food with higher protein and
lower fat contents than most other seafood (Conand 1990). Proximate composition and fatty acid profile
However, very few studies have been carried out to analyze
the nutritional composition of sea cucumbers. Proximate Sample collection
composition and fatty acid profile of Holothuria tubulosa,
H. polii, H. mammata, H. edulis, H. scabra, Apostichopus Fifteen fresh specimens of each sea cucumber species were
japonicus, Cucumaria frondosa and Stichopus japonicus collected from the commercial divers of the north-west
have been studied and significant variations with respect to coast of Sri Lanka. Internal organs of the collected indi-
species and their geographical locations were reported viduals were removed by placing a small cut on their
(Aydin et al. 2011; Fredalina et al. 1999; Li et al. 2009). ventral body surface and individual weight before and after
The sea cucumber fishery was introduced to Sri Lanka the evisceration was recorded (Table 1). Each individual
by the Chinese and bêche-de-mer reported to be one of the was labelled separately, packed in ice and transported to
major commodities taken to China for centuries. Although the laboratory of the Department of Zoology, University of
around 21 sea cucumber species are commercially exploi- Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka. Dried speci-
ted in the coastal waters of Sri Lanka (Dissanayake and mens of each species were collected from both domestic
Stefansson 2012), there is no tradition of consuming sea (n = 15) and industrial (n = 15) level processors, packed in
cucumbers locally and the entire harvest is exported to polythene bags and transported to the laboratory. At the
Singapore, Taiwan and China as bêche-de-mer. Many laboratory weight of each specimen was measured
studies related to sea cucumber fisheries and their culture (Table 1).
possibilities have been carried out in Sri Lanka (Dis-
sanayake and Stefansson 2010; Kumara and Dissanayake Analysis of proximate composition
2017), but no detailed studies to evaluate any aspects of
post-harvest processing or their impacts on the nutritional Fresh and dried specimens were cleaned and remaining
composition of sea cucumbers. As it was evident that the sand particles and visceral organs were carefully removed.
nutritional composition of sea cucumbers varies with spe- Each individual was cut into small pieces and grounded
cies, geographic location (Neto et al. 2006) and the way of using a grinder to obtain a homogenous sample. The
processing (Wen et al. 2010), we aimed to study the pro- moisture content was determined by drying the samples in
cessing method/s and the effects of processing on proxi- a thermostat oven at 100 ± 5 °C until a constant weight
mate composition and fatty acid profile of 6 commercial was obtained (AOAC 1990). Crude ash content was
sea cucumber species; Bohadschia marmorata, Stichopus determined by incinerating the samples in a muffle furnace
chloronotus, Holothuria spinifera, Thelenota anax, Holo- at 550 °C for 24 h (AOAC 1990). The micro-Kjeldahl
thuria scabra and Bohadschia sp. 1 (listed in Dissanayake method with acid digestion was used to determine the
and Stefansson 2010) in the coastal waters of Sri Lanka. crude protein content and conversion factor 6.25 was used
to convert total nitrogen to crude protein (Haider et al.
2015). Bligh and Dyer’s method was used to determine the
Materials and methods crude fat content (Bligh and Dyer 1959; Haider et al.
2015). All these analyses were conducted in triplicate.
Processing of sea cucumbers
Analysis of fatty acid profile
Major steps involved in the processing of 6 sea cucumber
species into bêche-de-mer were studied through direct Fatty acid composition of fresh and industrially processed
observations of processing activities carried out by both specimens of each sea cucumber species was analysed
industrial and domestic level processors in the north-west separately. FAME was prepared following the method
coast of Sri Lanka from October 2015 to March 2017. described by Aydin et al. (2011). Methyl esters were pre-
Randomly selected thirty two processors (equally repre- pared by transmethylation using 2 M potassium hydroxide
senting from both domestic and industrial level) were also (KOH) in methanol and n-hexane and 10 mg of extracted
interviewed using open-ended and closed-ended question- oil was dissolved in 2 mL hexane followed by 4 mL of
naires, semi-structured interviews and group discussions to 2 M methanolic KOH. Resulted tubes were vortexed for
collect detailed information on major steps involved in sea 2 min at room temperature and centrifuged at 4000 rpm for
cucumber processing, average time taken for each 10 min. After the centrifugation, hexane layer was

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Table 1 Weight range and average weight (± SD) of fresh and processed (both commercial and domestic level) six sea cucumber species
collected from the northwest coast of Sri Lanka before and after the evisceration
Species Fresh samples Processed samples
Weight range Average weight (g) Commercial processors Domestic processors
(g)
Before After Weight Average Weight Average
evisceration evisceration range (g) weight (g) range (g) weight (g)

H. scabra 100.11–560.56 258.96 ± 167.91 141.91 ± 79.05 43.56–59.80 52.36 ± 7.13 14.00–19.66 16.63 ± 2.45
H. spinifera 109.46–220.37 171.06 ± 50.03 121.63 ± 44.94 14.49–21.86 16.6 ± 2.99 15.45–49.40 33.15 ± 13.59
T. anax 302.23–613.28 452.13 ± 129.19 369.14 ± 98.05 22.19–53.07 31.47 ± 11.30 48.69–74.38 59.58 ± 10.75
B. marmorata 423.62–1021.27 761.58 ± 306.41 445.54 ± 140.91 34.42–43.84 38.72 ± 4.76 40.33–60.12 51.45 ± 9.33
Bohadschia sp.1 335.00–432.39 372.98 ± 52.11 175.74 ± 5.66 27.11–57.89 41.0 ± 11.77 42.20–65.75 52.57 ± 10.11
S. chloronotus 208.45–328.94 251.08 ± 67.53 176.48 ± 42.16 6.10–33.58 19.13 ± 12.28 10.49–17.63 14.05 ± 3.57
Average weights are given in mean weight in grams ± standard deviation in grams

separated for GC analysis. Collected samples were kept Results

frozen and analyzed for FAs within a week of arrival.
The fatty acids were determined using a gas chro- Processing of sea cucumbers
matography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with Agilent
Technologies Gas Chromatograph coupled to a Mass In Sri Lanka, fresh sea cucumbers are processed into
Spectrometer (Model Agilent, 7890a and Agilent, 5975c; bêche-de-mer by both domestic and industrial level pro-
CinertXLEI/CIMSD with Triple-Axis Detector; 30 m x cessors. Processing mainly involves cleaning, evisceration,
250 lm x 0.25 lm fused silica capillary column) and first boiling (cooking), salting, second boiling (cooking)
equipped with a split injector (ratio 25:1) available at the and drying. However, deviations in major processing steps
Central Instrumentation Facility, University of Sri such as removal of chalky materials were evident in some
Jayewardenepura. Helium gas was used as the carrier gas species like H. scabra and H. spinifera. As an average, the
and the temperature of the injector port and the detector whole processing process takes * 5–10 days.
was held at 280 and 250 °C, respectively. 2 lL of the As soon as sea cucumbers are landed, they are graded
sample was injected using an auto-sampler. The initial into three categories; small, medium and large based on
column temperature was set at 160 °C and kept for 10 min. their body size and cleaned using saline water. Evisceration
Then, the temperature was brought up to 190 °C at the rate is mainly done by making a small cut (2.5–4.0 cm) at the
of 3 °C/min during ramp 1 and kept for 5 min. During posterior end of their body, however, in S. chloronotus
ramp 2, the temperature was gradually increased to 232 °C internal organs are removed by placing a small cut
at a rate of 7 °C/min and the temperature was maintained at (2.0–2.5 cm) at their ventral body surface. Eviscerated
232 °C for a period of 14 min. Fatty acids in the sample individuals are boiled either using saline (87%) or fresh
were identified by comparing the retention times of FAME water (13%) and boiling time varies with species. The
with Supelco 37 component FAME mixture (Cat. No. highest boiling time was reported for H. scabra and H.
CRM47885; Supelco). Each analysis was performed in spinifera (24 ± 13 min) followed by T. anax (16 ± 6 min).
triplicates and the results were expressed in relative GC Average boiling time of Bohadschia species ranged from 10
area % as the mean ± standard deviation of detected to 15 min and it was * 13 min for S. chloronotus. Local
FAMEs. processors use several traditional methods to remove chalky
materials deposited on the outer body wall of H. scabra and
Statistical analysis H. spinifera. A widely practised method is brushing or
scrubbing the outer body wall after the first boiling or after
All the proximate components, except moisture were burying boiled products in the sand for * 12–18 h. Some
determined on dry weight basis. The means of the proxi- processors mix boiled sea cucumbers with Papaya (Carica
mate composition and fatty acid data were compared using papaya) leaves before brushing. All sea cucumbers are
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s salted after first boiling and average salting time varies from
multiple comparison test. Differences were considered to 1 to 2 days. Both iodized (86.67%) and non-iodized
be significant when p \ 0.05. All the statistical tests were (13.33%) salts are used for salting and normally 100 indi-
performed in Minitab 17 for Windows statistical package. viduals are dipped in 5 kg of salts. Salted products are

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boiled once again around 5 ± 3 min. Sun drying is the a significantly lower fat content than fresh individuals,
widely practised method to dry boiled products and drying however industrially processed Bohadschia sp. 1 reported a
time ranges from 3 to 5 days depending on species, size of significantly higher fat content than domestically processed
the individuals and local weather condition. Dried products individuals (p \ 0.05, ANOVA).
are packed in gunny bags, polythene bags or cardboard The range of the crude protein content was
boxes. 47.16–57.93% in fresh, 42.7–48.5% in domestically pro-
It was evident that 5–8% post-harvest losses occur at the cessed and 46.28–58.11% in industrially processed forms,
end of this processing process. Malpractices such as respectively. Processing has a significant impact on the
improper evisceration, intentional adding of sand, over- percentage crude protein content of sea cucumbers. This
salting, mixing of low-value species with high-value spe- study revealed a significant increase of relative crude
cies and poor hygiene practices were identified as some protein content in processed H. scabra, H. spinifera and T.
limitations of the existing processing process. anax than fresh individuals and a significant reduction in
B. marmorata and S. chloronotus (p \ 0.05; ANOVA).
Proximate composition of fresh and processed sea Significantly higher crude protein content was evident in
cucumbers industrially processed individuals than domestically pro-
cessed ones (p \ 0.05; ANOVA).
Proximate compositions of fresh, domestically processed
and industrially processed six sea cucumber species are Fatty acid composition of fresh and processed sea
shown in Table 2. The moisture content of fresh sea cucumbers
cucumbers ranged from 80.48 to 92.55% and the highest
moisture content was evident in T. anax. There are dif- The fatty acid profile of fresh and industrially processed six
ferences in the percentage moisture content of domestically sea cucumber species was analysed and are summarised in
(21.25–55.61%) and industrially (16.64–32.95%) pro- Table 3. A chromatogram corresponds to fresh S.
cessed sea cucumbers. Domestically processed individuals, chloronotus is given in Fig. 1. This study revealed the
excluding H. spinifera and Bohadschia sp. 1, showed sig- presence of 28 fatty acids in sea cucumbers, among those,
nificantly higher moisture content than industrially pro- 14 are saturated fatty acids (SFA), 6 are monounsaturated
cessed individuals (p \ 0.05; ANOVA). fatty acids (MUFA) and 8 are polyunsaturated fatty acids
The crude ash content of fresh sea cucumbers ranged (PUFA).
from 17.90 to 48.14% reporting the highest content in H. Processing has resulted a significant reduction of total
P
spinifera (48.14%). The highest ash content in domesti- saturated fatty acids ( SFA) in fresh form of sea
cally and industrially processed forms corresponds to T. cucumber species with an exception of Bohadschia sp. 1 in
P
anax (45.24%) and H. scabra (43.77%), respectively. which a significant increase in SFA was evident in
Significant variations in percentage crude ash among spe- processed form (p \ 0.05, ANOVA). The highest per-
cies as well as between fresh and processed forms of each centage of total SFA corresponded to the processed Bo-
species were evident (p \ 0.05; ANOVA). Domestically hadschia sp. 1 (54.63%). Palmitic acid (C16:0) is the most
processed H. scabra, T. anax and Bohadschia species dominant saturated fatty acid in all these sea cucumber
reported significantly higher crude ash content than fresh species followed by stearic acid (C18:0) and myristic acid
individuals (p \ 0.05, ANOVA). Industrially processed (C14:0). The level of palmitic acid ranged from 9.60 to 28.
individuals showed significantly lower ash contents than 30% in fresh and 3.44–17.41% in processed form,
domestically processed individuals, excluding H. scabra respectively. Processing caused to reduce the palmitic acid
and Bohadschia sp.1 whose ash content was not signifi- content in fresh H. scabra, T. anax and S. chloronotus
cantly different (p \ 0.05, ANOVA). significantly. However, a significant increase of palmitic
When compared with other proximate constituents, the acid content was evident in B. marmorata after the pro-
percentage crude fat found to be very low in all these sea cessing (p \ 0.05, ANOVA). Although undecanoic acid
cucumber species and it ranged from 0.97 to 3.94% in fresh (C11:0) was not recorded in fresh individuals of H. scabra,
individuals. Crude fat content of the industrially processed Bohadschia species and S. chloronotus, it was detected in
individuals was in the range of 0.89–3.38% and it was from processed individuals in very low percentages.
1.17 to 2.12% in domestically processed individuals. S. Total MUFA in fresh sea cucumbers ranged between
chloronotus contained the highest fat content, both in fresh 19.37 and 30.70%
P and processing has resulted in significant
and processed forms. There are differences in crude fat reduction of MUFA in all sea cucumber species except
content among sea cucumber species and the fresh and in B. marmorata. Myristoleic acid (C14:1), palmitoleic
processed forms of each species (p \ 0.05; ANOVA). acid (C16:1) and gondoic acid (C20:1n9) are the most
Domestically processed T. anax and Bohadschia sp. 1 have dominant monounsaturated fatty acids present in sea

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Table 2 Proximate composition (%) of fresh and processed (both domestic and industrial level) six sea cucumber species collected from the
northwest coast of Sri Lanka
Parameters Species
H. scabra H. spinifera T. anax B. marmorata Bohadschia sp. 1 S. chloronotus

Moisture
Fresh 81.66 ± 0.67a1 80.48 ± 0.44b1 92.55 ± 0.31c1 84.65 ± 0.41d1 86.48 ± 0.92e1 92.42 ± 0.48c1
Processed
Domestic 55.61 ± 7.28a2 28.9 ± 9.31b2 36.8 ± 1.81ab2 30.98 ± 12.3b2 21.25 ± 5.04b2 26.02 ± 4.78b2
a3 bc2 b3 d3 d2 cd3
Industrial 32.95 ± 1.05 24.52 ± 0.51 26.01 ± 2.48 16.64 ± 3.04 17.94 ± 3.07 19.19 ± 0.32
Ash
Fresh 34.5 ± 0.87a1 48.14 ± 1.43b1 35.1 ± 0.89a1 18.48 ± 1.88c1 17.9 ± 1.76c1 27.7 ± 0.24d1
Processed
Domestic 42.03 ± 2.73a2 45.07 ± 0.42a2 45.24 ± 2.27a2 40.81 ± 4.38a2 27.38 ± 5.03b2 26.04 ± 0.05b2
a2 b3 b3 b3 b2
Industrial 43.77 ± 3.54 31.83 ± 0.13 31.53 ± 0.34 33.19 ± 1.52 34.44 ± 0.48 16.54 ± 0.28c3
Fat
Fresh 1.05 ± 0.05a1 1.03 ± 0.03a1 2.61 ± 0.22b1 0.97 ± 0.03a1 1.5 ± 0.11c1 3.94 ± 0.18d1
Processed
Domestic 2.07 ± 0.09a2 1.04 ± 1.14b1 1.13 ± 0.05b2 1.12 ± 0.18b1 0.89 ± 0.07b2 3.38 ± 0.57c1
ab2 bc1 c2 bc1 c3
Industrial 1.96 ± 0.01 1.34 ± 0.21 1.17 ± 0.04 1.25 ± 0.10 1.18 ± 0.02 2.12 ± 0.59a2
Protein
Fresh 44.63 ± 0.34a1 47.16 ± 0.29a1 51.63 ± 2.08bc1 53.24 ± 2.49b1 47.49 ± 0.96ac1 57.93 ± 1.47d1
Processed
Domestic 42.7 ± 21.09a1 48.5 ± 0.67b2 43.25 ± 2.48a2 44.35 ± 3.50ab2 46.29 ± 1.40ab1 46.62 ± 1.57ab2
a2 b3 b3 ac12 ac1
Industrial 49.84 ± 0.78 58.11 ± 0.46 56.62 ± 0.23 48.95 ± 0.86 48.21 ± 0.58 46.28 ± 2.38c2
Note: Values in the same row bearing different letters are significantly different (p \ 0.05) and for each component values in same column
bearing, different digits are significantly different (p \ 0.05), results are expressed in % (m) dry base, for each species 15 samples each with 3
replicates were analysed

cucumbers and significant variations in these fatty acids in individuals and the highest percentage of total PUFA was
fresh and processed individuals were evident (p \ 0.05; evident in H. scabra. Further, H. scabra has the highest x-
ANOVA). Total unsaturated fatty acids in both fresh and 3/x-6 ratio followed by S. chloronotus.
processed forms were found to be higher than total satu-
rated fatty acid in all sea cucumber species excluding
processed Bohadchia sp.1 and fresh S. chloronotus. Discussion
Arachidonic acid (C20:4n6), eicosapentaenoic acid
(EPA, C20:5n3) and homo-c-linolenic acid (C20:3n6) are The market demand of bêche-de-mer mainly fluctuates
the most predominant polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) with species and product quality. Shape, appearance, col-
reported in these sea cucumber species. Arachidonic acid our, odour, and moisture content are the key determinants
was found in all these species and a significant increase in of bêche-de-mer product quality and these parameters are
the relative percentage of this fatty acid was evident in H. mainly influenced by the processing method. Therefore,
scabra, H. spinifera, T. anax and S. chloronotus after the there is a great interest to find out the proper methods of
processing. Processed T. anax (13.49%) reported the sea cucumber processing among sea cucumber producing
highest percentage of arachidonic acid. Processed sea nations. According to Conand (1990), bêche-de-mer is
cucumbers, except for Bohadschia sp. 1 have significantly produced mainly by a process of cleaning, boiling, salting,
higher EPA than the fresh individuals. Results revealed that and drying. This study also revealed similar steps in pro-
linoleic acid (C18:2n6c) is present in all these species and cessing though slight differences in major processing steps
the highest percentage of linoleic acid and docosahex- were seen with species. Previous studies also proved that
aenoic acid (DHA, C22:6n3) are in Bohadschia species. slight differences in major processing steps can occur with
Processed sea cucumbers excluding Bohadschia species respect to species, geographical areas and method of pro-
showed a significant increase of total PUFA than the fresh cessing (Conand 1990; Choo 2004).

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 Table 3 Fatty acid profile of fresh and processed (both domestic and industrial level) six sea cucumber species collected from the northwest coast of Sri Lanka

123
FA type H. scabra H. spinifera T. anax B. marmorata Bohadschia sp. 1 S. chloronotus
Fresh Processed Fresh Processed Fresh Processed Fresh Processed Fresh Processed Fresh Processed

C8:0 0.53 ± 0.01a 0.41 ± 0.01b 0.1 ± 0.00a 0.23 ± 0.01b 0.45 ± 0.11a 0.56 ± 0.03a 2.07 ± 0.05a 0.97 ± 0.08b 1.58 ± 0.22a 1.51 ± 0.10a 0.65 ± 0.09a 0.37 ± 0.04b
a b a b a a a b a a a
C10:0 0.63 ± 0.01 0.49 ± 0.01 0.12 ± 0.00 0.27 ± 0.01 0.54 ± 0.19 0.67 ± 0.03 2.47 ± 0.06 1.14 ± 0.09 1.89 ± 0.26 1.79 ± 0.12 0.77 ± 0.10 0.44 ± 0.05b
a b a b a a a b a b a
C11:0 0.0 ± 0.00 0.4 ± 0.01 0.09 ± 0.00 0.22 ± 0.01 0.38 ± 0.15 0.55 ± 0.02 0.0 ± 0.00 0.92 ± 0.06 0.0 ± 0.00 1.47 ± 0.10 0.0 ± 0.00 0.36 ± 0.04b
a b a b a b a b a a a
C12:0 0.69 ± 0.01 0.5 ± 0.05 0.14 ± 0.01 0.37 ± 0.06 1.99 ± 0.24 0.78 ± 0.14 2.44 ± 0.05 1.33 ± 0.19 1.95 ± 0.28 1.83 ± 0.14 0.8 ± 0.10 0.53 ± 0.05b
a b a b a a a b a a a
C13:0 0.23 ± 0.01 0.16 ± 0.01 0.06 ± 0.01 0.11 ± 0.01 0.19 ± 0.08 0.22 ± 0.00 0.78 ± 0.02 0.36 ± 0.03 0.6 ± 0.08 0.58 ± 0.05 0.24 ± 0.03 0.15 ± 0.02b
a b a a a b a a a b a
C14:0 5.14 ± 0.04 3.06 ± 1.21 4.88 ± 0.18 5.23 ± 0.30 3.47 ± 0.52 5.38 ± 0.14 4.29 ± 0.47 4.14 ± 1.77 4.24 ± 0.36 5.89 ± 0.47 6.04 ± 0.10 3.7 ± 0.14b
a b a b a a a a a a a
C15:0 3.52 ± 0.04 1.76 ± 0.05 1.16 ± 0.04 1.81 ± 0.05 0.93 ± 0.04 0.96 ± 0.11 1.96 ± 0.03 2.61 ± 1.42 1.66 ± 0.28 2.16 ± 0.16 1.0 ± 0.27 0.71 ± 0.09a
a b a a a b a b a a a
C16:0 15.28 ± 0.15 3.44 ± 0.13 17.85 ± 1.62 17.41 ± 0.37 15.63 ± 0.23 11.76 ± 1.27 9.6 ± 0.75 13.56 ± 2.22 16.01 ± 2.27 15.47 ± 1.74 28.3 ± 1.49 16.22 ± 0.56b
C17:0 2.35 ± 0.70a 2.86 ± 0.10a 1.88 ± 0.08a 2.73 ± 0.05b 2.45 ± 0.42a 1.74 ± 0.35a 2.47 ± 0.05a 1.53 ± 0.54b 2.07 ± 0.26a 3.5 ± 1.07a 1.33 ± 0.13a 1.75 ± 0.45a
C18:0 7.56 ± 0.04a 7.93 ± 2.72a 8.46 ± 0.23a 8.28 ± 0.09a 6.23 ± 1.33a 6.73 ± 0.21a 7.71 ± 1.17a 6.73 ± 3.62a 7.47 ± 1.29a 9.32 ± 0.18a 8.07 ± 0.37a 6.03 ± 0.09b
C20:0 2.4 ± 0.05a 3.07 ± 0.21b 2.58 ± 0.14a 1.91 ± 0.01b 5.17 ± 0.40a 2.99 ± 0.17b 4.07 ± 0.53a 1.31 ± 0.20b 1.75 ± 0.14a 4.15 ± 0.00b 1.89 ± 0.02a 2.26 ± 0.08b
a a a b a b a a a b a
C21:0 1.41 ± 0.04 1.43 ± 0.05 1.44 ± 0.04 1.01 ± 0.02 3.94 ± 1.26 1.72 ± 0.11 3.17 ± 0.24 2.18 ± 1.26 1.54 ± 0.25 2.93 ± 0.13 1.0 ± 0.03 1.38 ± 0.04b
a a a a a a a b a a a
C22:0 1.41 ± 0.02 1.67 ± 0.41 1.37 ± 0.41 1.22 ± 0.29 2.55 ± 0.71 2.03 ± 0.30 4.77 ± 0.41 3.25 ± 0.52 2.96 ± 0.34 3.07 ± 0.64 1.66 ± 0.41 1.29 ± 0.31a
a a a b a b a b a a a
C23:0 0.46 ± 0.11 0.66 ± 0.07 0.0 ± 0.00 0.34 ± 0.12 1.1 ± 0.09 0.62 ± 0.18 1.37 ± 0.06 0.68 ± 0.12 1.02 ± 0.14 0.96 ± 0.07 0.47 ± 0.06 0.45 ± 0.04a
P a b a a a b a b a b a
SFA 41.61 ± 0.78 27.82 ± 2.08 40.12 ± 0.69 41.14 ± 0.92 45.02 ± 1.22 36.71 ± 1.63 47.16 ± 2.44 40.71 ± 2.70 44.76 ± 3.95 54.63 ± 0.62 52.21 ± 1.61 35.65 ± 0.61b
a b a b a b a a a a a
C14:1 7.02 ± 0.11 4.93 ± 0.45 8.33 ± 0.21 6.68 ± 0.94 5.04 ± 1.21 7.77 ± 0.13 1.91 ± 0.68 5.61 ± 2.65 2.49 ± 1.66 3.92 ± 0.02 7.44 ± 0.49 4.73 ± 0.08b
a b a a a b a a a b a
C16:1 7.05 ± 0.23 3.92 ± 0.27 10.35 ± 0.30 10.41 ± 0.13 7.17 ± 0.80 5.19 ± 0.08 5.07 ± 0.79 4.52 ± 1.45 7.26 ± 1.16 3.2 ± 0.84 6.33 ± 0.15 5.05 ± 0.08b
a a a a a a a b a a a
C17:1 1.04 ± 0.32 0.53 ± 0.00 0.26 ± 0.09 0.37 ± 0.08 0.68 ± 0.04 0.73 ± 0.03 2.67 ± 0.05 1.24 ± 0.12 2.04 ± 0.28 1.93 ± 0.13 0.83 ± 0.11 0.47 ± 0.06b
a a a b a b a a a b a
C18:1n9c 1.56 ± 0.50 1.5 ± 0.02 1.91 ± 0.06 0.75 ± 0.09 3.09 ± 0.99 1.21 ± 0.10 2.5 ± 0.10 1.97 ± 1.10 3.89 ± 0.49 1.86 ± 0.15 1.47 ± 0.09 1.7 ± 0.88a
a b a a a a a a a a a
C18:1n9t 1.79 ± 0.06 3.39 ± 0.18 4.22 ± 0.52 3.67 ± 0.11 2.92 ± 1.00 1.44 ± 0.48 0.67 ± 0.19 3.27 ± 1.65 1.62 ± 1.80 1.31 ± 0.29 0.91 ± 0.37 1.57 ± 0.13b
a b a b a b a b a b a
C20:1n9 3.69 ± 0.08 5.13 ± 0.24 5.66 ± 0.27 3.9 ± 0.07 10.56 ± 1.48 4.38 ± 0.13 6.54 ± 1.18 12.04 ± 3.11 5.4 ± 0.34 7.22 ± 0.43 3.59 ± 0.10 4.97 ± 0.24b
P a b a b a b a a a b a
MUFA 22.14 ± 0.72 19.4 ± 0.22 30.72 ± 0.37 25.78 ± 0.99 29.47 ± 0.06 20.71 ± 0.34 19.37 ± 2.24 28.64 ± 6.32 22.71 ± 0.51 19.44 ± 1.01 20.56 ± 0.19 18.49 ± 0.40b
Author's personal copy

a b a b a a a b a a a
C18:3n6 0.64 ± 0.01 0.5 ± 0.02 0.2 ± 0.03 0.31 ± 0.04 0.46 ± 0.18 0.76 ± 0.09 2.45 ± 0.04 1.13 ± 0.08 1.88 ± 0.24 1.76 ± 0.12 0.86 ± 0.12 0.53 ± 0.01b
a a a a a a a a a a a
C18:2n6c 0.81 ± 0.07 0.63 ± 0.24 0.4 ± 0.09 0.51 ± 0.15 0.97 ± 0.74 0.89 ± 0.24 1.62 ± 0.09 1.18 ± 0.55 1.68 ± 0.04 1.14 ± 0.09 0.94 ± 0.22 0.99 ± 0.43a
C20:4n6 7.32 ± 0.15a 11.11 ± 0.64b 8.47 ± 0.23a 10.78 ± 0.42b 6.25 ± 3.42a 13.49 ± 0.60b 9.15 ± 0.26a 7.08 ± 2.15a 8.14 ± 0.97a 4.37 ± 0.23b 5.47 ± 0.14a 10.88 ± 0.38b
C20:5n3 18.55 ± 0.57a 27.06 ± 0.67b 10.95 ± 0.26a 14.84 ± 0.92b 5.51 ± 0.78a 18.71 ± 0.88b 3.71 ± 0.26a 6.33 ± 3.36a 9.3 ± 4.03a 5.54 ± 0.41a 13.0 ± 1.47a 24.19 ± 0.73b
C20:3n6 5.6 ± 0.16a 7.95 ± 0.23b 3.09 ± 0.07a 4.35 ± 0.26b 1.9 ± 0.46a 5.71 ± 0.25b 3.53 ± 0.75a 2.31 ± 1.17a 4.02 ± 0.95a 2.43 ± 0.43a 4.2 ± 0.32a 7.11 ± 0.20b
C20:2 1.58 ± 1.63a 3.84 ± 1.43a 5.1 ± 0.21a 0.77 ± 0.10b 8.9 ± 0.51a 0.88 ± 0.08b 6.6 ± 0.22a 9.63 ± 2.25a 2.66 ± 1.50a 6.08 ± 0.12b 0.74 ± 0.17a 0.77 ± 0.02a
a a a b a a a b a a a
C22:6n3 1.27 ± 0.14 1.27 ± 0.48 0.61 ± 0.15 1.3 ± 0.28 0.99 ± 0.41 1.61 ± 0.25 4.54 ± 0.09 2.07 ± 0.15 3.47 ± 0.47 3.28 ± 0.23 1.43 ± 0.19 1.05 ± 0.11b
a a a a a a a b a a a
C22:2 0.48 ± 0.02 0.42 ± 0.07 0.33 ± 0.11 0.23 ± 0.01 0.55 ± 0.08 0.53 ± 0.04 1.87 ± 0.01 0.93 ± 0.02 1.39 ± 0.18 1.31 ± 0.09 0.6 ± 0.10 0.35 ± 0.02b
P a b a b a b a a a a a
PUFA 36.25 ± 0.63 52.78 ± 2.30 29.16 ± 0.35 33.09 ± 1.75 25.51 ± 1.28 42.57 ± 1.79 33.48 ± 0.43 30.65 ± 3.89 32.53 ± 4.19 25.92 ± 0.40 27.23 ± 1.50 45.86 ± 0.89b
x-3/x-6 1.21 1.16 0.66 0.95 0.34 0.91 0.33 0.38 0.65 0.52 1.13 1.22
P P
Note: For each species values in the same row bearing different letters are significantly different (p \ 0.05); x-3 = C20:5n3 ? C22:6n3; x-6 = C18:3n6 ? C18:2n6c ? C20:4n6 ?
C20:3n6 ? C20:2 ? C22:2; SFA, saturated fatty acid; MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acid; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acid, for each species 15 samples each with 3 replicates were analysed
J Food Sci Technol
 Author's personal copy
J Food Sci Technol

Fig. 1 The chromatogram of

fresh S. chloronotus. Abundance
of fatty acid components is
given by y axis and
corresponding time is given in x
axis

Although processors carried out cooking in an ad hoc This study revealed the quality of domestically pro-
manner, it is the most important step in the processing cessed bêche-de-mer is lower than the industrially pro-
chain as it damages to the product in an irreversible way cessed bêche-de-mer as the former contains a high level of
acquiring rotting and undesirable smell (Li 2004). Proper moisture, crude ash, crude fat and low level of proteins.
cooking will enhance the palatability, shelf life, stiffness Similar observations have been reported in previous studies
and colour of sea cucumbers. This study revealed that carried out in Pacific Island countries (Ram et al. 2014) and
boiling time varied with species and similar findings were New Calidonia (Purcell et al. 2009). According to Ram
reported in Madagascar. However, due to lack of a proper et al. (2014), fishers who are doing small-scale domestic
scientific base to judge the appropriate level of boiling and level sea cucumber processing often face problems of
boiling time, many processors face difficulties as over or producing good quality bêche-de-mer as they rush some
under cooking reduces the product quality. Although some processing steps to save time and lack of proper under-
processors in Madagascar and Malaysia employed one time standing of gutting position, salting time, the importance of
boiling; many processors practised second boiling after the repeated cooking and proper drying.
salting as reported in this study (Choo 2004). Although, information on nutritional composition of sea
To gain the best market price, removal of the chalky cucumbers are available for a few species (Maziar Yahyav
material presence in the integument of some sea cucumber et al. 2012; Salarzadeh et al. 2012; Haider et al. 2015;
species is essential during the processing. According to Ibrahim et al. 2015), still there are many gaps. According
Choo (2004), similar methods reported in this study are to Chang-Lee et al. (1989), the moisture content of fresh
practised in Pacific Island countries, Malaysia and Mada- sea cucumbers varied from 82 to 92.6% and the results of
gascar to remove chalky materials of H. scabra and H. the present study were in agreement with their findings.
spinifera. Burying of boiled sea cucumbers in the sand Improper drying and packing could be the possible reasons
around 12–18 h enhance bacterial actions which soft the for observed significant variations of moisture content in
external part of the integument enabling removal of domestically and industrially processed sea cucumbers
decomposed integument containing chalky materials while (Özer et al. 2004). However, when compared with other
rubbing or scraping. When Papaya leaves are used chem- studies, Bêche-de-mer from Sri Lanka contains a higher
icals like papain may react with calcium carbonate level of moisture than the products from other regional
deposits. Salting after first boiling limits desiccation and countries (Wen et al. 2010; Bechtel et al. 2012; Ibrahim
minimises weight and length losses during processing. Sun et al. 2015). Over salting and improper removal of gut
drying is the widely practiced method to dry sea cucumbers contents may be some possible reasons for the observed
in many parts of the world, although some disadvantages high level of ash contents in processed sea cucumbers.
like non-uniformity in drying and product damage by Previous studies have revealed that sea cucumbers
rodents are recorded (Choo 2004). contain a high protein and low-fat levels (Prim et al. 1976;

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J Food Sci Technol

Wen et al. 2010) and this study also supports these find- high DHA levels in H. tubulosa and H. mammata. This
ings. Out of six species studied, previous information on study also proved that sea cucumbers are rich with
protein content are available only for dried H. scabra, T. arachidonic acid (Wen et al. 2010; Aydin et al. 2011;
anax and fresh B. marmorata (Wen et al. 2010; Nahla Haider et al. 2015). Further, it reveals that some FAs
2013; Ibrahim et al. 2015) and the present findings are in remained without any change even after the processing and
conformity with their findings. Observed significant chan- this may be due to processing does not cause oxidation of
ges in protein content of processed sea cucumbers could be these FAs.
a result of alterations in protein content due to different Although sea cucumbers contain very low level of crude
processing tactics, removal of some body parts and relative fat content, fatty acid compositions of sea cucumbers have
losses or addition of other constituents during processing. been analyzed previously to prove that sea cucumbers are
Wen et al. (2010) reported significantly higher fat con- rich with healthy composition of fatty acid. This study also
tent in T. anax (9.9 ± 0.27) than the values reported in the confirmed that H. scbara and S. chloronotus are having the
current study, however, fat content reported for H. scabra recommended x-3/x-6 ratio for good health status of
by Ibrahim et al. (2015) was similar to our results. As human (Simopoulos 2002).
stated by Neto et al. (2006), differences in food availability In conclusion, proximate composition and fatty acid
in marine environments and selective feeding behaviour of profile of sea cucumbers can be significantly affected by
sea cucumbers could be some possible reasons for the processing. Processing has resulted a significant reduction
observed differences in fat and fatty acid profile of sea in relative percentages of total SFAs and MUFAs and
cucumber species. increased in PUFAs in most of these sea cucumber species.
This study revealed that processing has resulted a sig- All these species are rich with arachidonic acid (C20:4n6),
nificant reduction of total SFA and MUFA and an eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n3) and homo-c-linolenic
increased in total PUFA in many sea cucumber species acid (C20:3n6). As there are differences in the nutritional
studied and similar results have been reported previously composition of sea cucumbers in relation to species, geo-
by Aydin et al. (2011) for H. tubulosa, H. polli and H. graphic locations and methods of processing, the findings
marmorata collected from Turkey. Removal of body parts of this study will make a significant contribution to fill the
during the processing could be a possible reason for rela- gaps in existing information as no previous information are
tive percentage changes of these fatty acids. available for some species like H. spinifera and S.
Although Nahla (2013) reported that both H. scabra and chloronotus. However, it is recommended to analyze
B. marmorata contain higher total saturated fatty acids than effects of processing on the proximate and fatty acid
total unsaturated fatty acids, the results of this study do not compositions of these sea cucumber species further by
support for their findings. Haider et al. (2015) reported the considering more samples belonging to wider size and
presence of lower chain SFAs such butyric acid (C4:0) and depth ranges as dietary sources and dietary preferences
caproic acid (C6:0) in sea cucumbers, however, these FAs could be varied with such factors.
were not detected in the current study probably due to the
presence of these compounds below detection levels. Fur- Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the finan-
cial support received from the National Research Council (NRC)
ther, Fredalina et al. (1999) have reported that extraction Grant No 15-50. Technical support given by Prof. Savim Kose, Dr.
procedures can affect the content of FAs in sea cucumbers Asitha Cooray and staff members of the Central Instrumentation
and probably our procedure is not strong enough to extract Facility of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Suganth
some FAs. International (Pvt.) Ltd. are highly appreciated.
Among the essential FAs, only linoleic acid was
reported in these species. Although, the presence of a-li-
nolenic acid in sea cucumbers was reported previously
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