Development and Performance Evaluation of Power Operated jackfruit seed separator

Abstract

Jackfruit is a nutritional fruit rich in many vitamins, nutrients and having anti-cancer properties. At present, demand for jackfruit is increasing day by day owing to its availability, medicinal value and nutritional composition. At present, sensitized growers, entrepreneurs and volunteers focus more on jackfruit value added products. But traditional manual peeling, coring, cutting and separation of seed is time consuming and labour intensive process. At present, it is carried out manually and no means of mechanical device for separation of seed from jackfruit bulb has been commercialized till now. The conventional method of separation is done by using stainless steel knives. This poses operational drudgery to the labours and can cause damages to the bulbs. Prior to the development of mechanical jackfruit seed separator, study on existing methods of jackfruit seed separation was done. Also an investigation of the physical and mechanical properties of jackfruit bulb was under taken. Based on these properties, a power operated jackfruit seed separator was developed. The developed machine consists of the following parts -rubber belts, driven rollers, idler rollers, power transmission unit, motor, frame assembly and outlet chute. Two endless rubber belt rotating with the help of two driven pulleys. .The jackfruit bulbs were manually loaded to the inlet at the top of the frame assembly, which was then passed between the rubber belts. As it proceeds downwards, shear force is developed due to the difference in surface speeds of the belts result in seed separation and breaking of jackfruit bulb. The seed and the broken bulb are then collected at the outlet chute. Performance of the machine was evaluated based on overall capacity, separation efficiency and percentage damage. The overall capacity of the jackfruit seed seperator was found to be 93.93kg/hr. The seperation efficiency and percentage damage of jackfruit bulbs were 88.8% and 2.22%, respectively. The effective capacity of the jackfruit bulb seperator was calculated as 83.40%. The capacity of the developed jackfruit seed separator was four times higher than manual operation. The fabrication cost and the cost of operation of the developed machine was estimated as Rs 15220/-.and Rs 65.74/hr, respectively.