Comparative evaluation of some Peeling Parameters of a Rotary Cassava Peeling Machine with Manual Knife Peeling

Cassava is grown and consumed in all agro-ecological zones of Nigeria; it is a draught resistant crop rich in carbohydrates and other nutrients. Nigeria is the world's highest producer. With its potentials, if well mechanized, cassava can improve food and nutritional security. The root is highly perishable with a span of 48 to 72hours after harvest. The more need for it to be processed timely to prevent wastage. It provides food for human and livestock; the edible starch is also useful for manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries as raw materials. Virtually all aspect of its propagation and processing have been successfully mechanized, but the peeling part is largely research in progress which has led to the design and fabrication of simple peeling tools to motorized peeling machines to ease the operation. The traditional method of peeling is laborious and time consuming; the reason why NCAM has been working on ways of mechanizing this aspect of cassava processing. The design and fabrication of rotary cassava peeling machine was a huge success; the comparative performance evaluation of the machine and the conventional manual knife peeling was carried out using the following parameters: peeling time, peeling rate, peeling efficiency, and peeling capacity to ascertain the usefulness of the machine. It was concluded that the machine performed well.