DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF BITTER GOURD PULP EXTRACTOR

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.