Abstract:To select the ideal processing equipment and determine processing times for processing fresh rhizomes of Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua into ready-to-eat products， this paper designed a three-factor completely randomized block experiment on fresh rhizomes of Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua with different processing methods （A）， processing equipment （B）， and processing times （C）. A was set with two experimental levels of A1（peeled） and A2 （not peeled）； B was set with two experimental levels of B1 （modern processing equipment）and B2 （traditional processing equipment）， and C was set with 10 experimental levels of C0-C9 （C0 as the control， i.e. unprocessed rhizomes） and divided into four block groups of A1B1C， A1B2C， A2B1C， and A2B2C，with a total of 40 different treatments. The quality of rhizomes composed of eight functional components， including extractives， polysaccharides， reducing sugars， total saponins， total phenols， total flavonoids， crude protein， and crude fat， as well as the taste and color of the processed rhizomes were selected as the comprehensive evaluation indicators for the optimal experimental treatment. The research showed that experimental factors A， B， C， as well as A×B， A×C， B×C， and A×B×C， all had a significant impact on improving the processing quality of fresh rhizomes of Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua （P＜0.01）. Overall， the quality of peeled rhizomes increased by 51.59% compared to non-peeled ones， and the quality of rhizomes processed by modern equipment increased by 27.83% compared to that by traditional equipment. The quality of fresh rhizomes，whether peeled or not， was the best after being processed eight times. In terms of processing times， the quality of rhizomes in descending order was sorted： 8 times ＞7 times＞9 times＞6 times ＞5 times ＞4 times＞3 times ＞2 times＞1 time＞0 times， indicating that the overall quality of rhizomes of Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua increased significantly with the increase in processing times （P＜0.01）. Among the four different processing methods， the quality of rhizomes in A1×B1， A1×B2， and A2×B1 increased by 85.18%， 40.49%， and 18.91%，respectively compared to that in A2×B2， indicating that the traditional deseeding and re-steaming method （A1×B2） wassuperior to the traditional nine-steaming and nine-exposure method （A2×B2）. The optimal experimental treatments were A1B1C8， A1B1C7， A1B1C9， A1B2C8， A1B1C6， and A1B2C9. The rhizomes produced by these methods had a sweet and delicious taste， caused no irritation to the throat， and showed a black to bright black color. The processing quality of the rhizomes was 2.83-3.88 times higher than that of the control rhizomes，with a low processing cost. The best processing method for ready-to-eat products made from Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua was as follows： The rhizomes were cleaned， with the roots removed and the skin peeled， and then processed. If modern equipment， such as a stainless steel steamer and oven， is used， it should be steamed and dried 6-9 times， with 8 times being the best. If traditional wooden rice steaming equipment is used， it should be steamed and sun-dried 8 times.