Abstract:
Momordica charantia, commonly known as bitter gourd has been traditionally
used in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine to treat diabetes and its complications.
Several medicinal properties of the bitter gourd have been studied such as anti-
diabetic, anti-ulcerogenic, antimutagenic, antioxidant, anti-tumour, anti lipolytic,
analgesic, abortifacient, anti-viral, hypoglycemic and immunomodulatory. In vitro
studies reveals that the bitter gourd proteins (α-and β-monorcharin) have inhibitory
effect against HIV virus. A large number of value added products can be prepared
from bitter gourd like bitter gourd juice, pickle, dried rings, chips, etc. The physical
properties of bitter gourd relevant to design and develop a bitter gourd pulp extractor
were determined. The developed bitter gourd pulp extractor consists of cylindrical
sieve, outer cylinder , scrapper , discharge unit , power unit , frame and stand. The
machine was fabricated using food grade material SS 304, to ensure safety. Bulk
quantities of fully ripened freshly harvested bitter gourds were collected. After
washing and cleaning, the bitter gourds were subjected to pulping process. The
crushed pulp along with seeds was introduced into the cylindrical sieve of the
machine. The basic principle behind this extractor is centrifugation and abrasive
effect. When the pulp along with the seed was centrifuged at a specific frequency the
denser substance got settled at the centre and the lighter substance moved away from
the central axis. The seed being the heavier particle got settled down at the bottom of
the strainer whereas the pulp being lighter oozed out through the perforations. The
extracted pulp was collected through the discharge outlet. The test was done at
different frequency and different time. The optimization was done using RSM
software. The method adopted was central composite. 13 combinations of
experiments were conducted for different time and frequency. The results obtained
were significant for all the responses. The optimum frequency and time of operation
attained were 28.19 Hz and 3 minutes, respectively. The average extraction efficiency
of 88.45% was attained for the optimized conditions. The seed damage and seed
viability of the pulp extractor were obtained as 1.92% and 92%, respectively.
