Development of Chironji nut Decorticator
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Date
2020-11-10
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Publisher
MPUT, UDAIPUR
Abstract
Chironji kernels have great medicinal values. The whole kernel is used in
sweets, meats, expectorant and tonic. Chironji kernels contain 52% oil and are used for treating skin diseases and it is also considered as a substitute for almond oil in traditional medicinal preparations. They are rich in nutrients and are an active source of crude protein, crude fat, carbohydrates, crude fiber and other rich nutrients like phenolics, natural antioxidants, fatty acids and minerals.
The average weight of chironji nut, kernel and shell were 0.284, 0.082 and 0.203g. The kernel and shell per cent in chironji nut were 28.94 and 71.27%. The
moisture content of chironji nuts and kernels were 8.27 % and 2.78 %. The average length, width and thickness of chironji nut were 8.87, 7.91 and 6.13mm respectively. The arithmetic mean diameter (Da), geometric mean diameter (Dg), equivalent diameter and square mean diameter were 7.63, 7.54, 9.44 and 13.15 mm respectively. The aseptic ratio, sphericity, surface area and thousand seed weight were 89.36, 0.85, 181.47 mm2 and 232.89g respectively. The bulk density, true density and porosity were 574.09 kg/m3,
1008.63 kg/m3 and 42.96 % respectively. The angle of repose, co-efficient of static friction, terminal velocity and hardness were 30.935 degree, 0.551, 18.729 m/s and 13.964 kg respectively.
The average length, width and thickness of chironji kernels were 5.78, 4.71 and
3.92 mm respectively. The arithmetic mean diameter (Da), geometric mean diameter (Dg) or size, equivalent diameter, square and mean diameter were 4.80, 4.74, 5.93, 8.26 mm
respectively. The aseptic ratio sphericity, surface area and thousand seed weight were 81.84, 0.82, 70.75 mm2 and 82.75g respectively. The bulk density, true density and
porosity were 507.55 kg/m3, 714.37 kg/m3 and 28.88% respectively. The angle of repose, co-efficient of static friction, terminal velocity and hardness were 36.074 degree, 0.244,
14.068 m/s and 0.769 kg respectively.
The developed chironji nut decorticator consisted of decortication and sieve unit.
The truncated square pyramid hopper was having top surface and bottom surface length x width as 300 x 300 mm and 100 × 100 mm with 400 mm height and an inclination angle of 32°. The vertically mounted pair of stone discs i.e. stationary and movable were having diameter 200 mm with thickness of 30 mm for each disc. The batch of 10 kg feed
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processed within 5-6 min thus, giving capacity of 100kg/h. The rectangular discharge chute having dimensions length x width x thickness as 250 x 55 x 55 mm with an angle
of 40o allows the decorticated mixture to pass to the sieve assembly. The dimensions of sieve unit were 1150 x 435 x 280 mm and mounted on an MS angle frame. The eccentric rods were attached vertically under sieve unit with height of 295 and 215 mm at a distance of 510 mm apart, for to and fro motion of sieve assembly. The sieve unit was
having top sieve of 6 mm diameter round hole, whereas the middle and bottom sieves
were having slotted aperture of 20 x 4 mm and 20 x 2 mm respectively. The diameter of pulley attached to motor, decortication unit and sieve assembly were 76.2, 152.4 and 203
mm respectively. The weight of chironji nut decorticator was 75 kg and it was efficiently operated with 2 hp single phase electric motor.
Box Behnken design was used for optimization and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied for analysis of experimental data. Twenty nine trials
were conducted for optimization of process and machine parameters of decortication unit
and seventeen trials were conducted for optimization of machine parameters of sieve unit.
For decortications unit, the input variables viz. moisture content (7, 8 and 9 % wb), feed rate (60, 80 and 100 kg/h), speed of disc (700, 750 and 800 rpm) and clearance between pair of disc (6, 8 and 10 mm) were finalized for obtaining the responses viz maximum coefficient of decortication, maximum coefficient of wholeness of kernel, maximum decortication efficiency (%) and capacity of decorticator for whole chironji kernel (kg/h).
For sieve unit, the machine parameters viz., sieve assembly slope (10, 12 and 14 degrees), stroke length (2,3 and 4 mm) and sieve oscillation frequency (400, 450 and 500 stroke/min) were finalized for obtaining the responses viz. maximum cleaning efficiency, maximum percent whole kernel, minimum percent broken kernel and minimum percent kernel loss. Models for the responses were developed through regression analysis and
statistical significance of the model terms were examined through Analysis of variance.
The optimum values of independent variables viz. moisture content, feed rate,
speed of disc and clearance between pair of disc were 7.5 - 8.0 % wb, 75 - 85 kg/h, 720 -
760 rpm and 7.5 - 8.5 mm for obtaining the predicted value of coefficient of decortication, coefficient of wholeness of kernel, decortication efficiency and capacity of decorticator for whole chironji kernel as 92.89 %, 0.83, 76.87 % and 20.16 kg/h
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respectively. The optimum values of machine parameters viz. sieve unit slope, stroke length and sieve oscillation frequency were 11.5 - 12.5 degree, 2.7 - 3.3 mm and 440 -
470 stroke/min for obtaining the predicted value of cleaning efficiency, percent whole kernel, percent broken kernel and percent kernel loss as 93.56 %, 93.14%, 4.22 % and
1.92 % respectively.
The various quality parameters of whole chironji kernels obtained with chironji
nut decorticator were compared with fresh and commercial kernel samples. The colour for fresh, experimental and commercial kernels were L* as 52.67, 5.55 and 9.46, value of a* as 55.47, 6.59 and 11.46 and value of b* as 56.67, 7.31, 13.03 respectively. The water
activity (aw) for fresh, experimental and commercial kernels at 33o C were 0.584, 0.248
and 0.343 respectively. The protein content for fresh, experimental and commercial kernels were 18.96 %, 18.83 % and 18.24% respectively. The fat content for fresh,
experimental and commercial kernels were 39.40 %, 38.20 % and 41.2% respectively.
The average values of overall acceptability for sensory evaluation of experimental and commercial kernels were 7.4 and 7.2 respectively.
Chironji nut decorticator gives the net profit of Rs. 3,36,019 per year. The costbenefit ratio was calculated as 1.54 with a payback period of 0.04 years and the return on investment was 54.79 %. The developed assures the safety of the operator. The
mechanism was portable, thus, would be easily shifted / transported from one place to
another. Even an unskilled labour was able to operate the developed decorticator. The easy mechanism helps to reduce the processing cost and maintenance cost. The developed chironji nut decortication would help the cooperative farmers, tribal people,
and small, medium and large scale farmers, small help groups (SHG), bachat gats, and unemployed youths to become an entrepreneur
Description
Development of Chironji nut Decorticator
Keywords
Citation
Dange M. And Champawat P.S.