R. N. Kenghe , A. P. Magar, K. R. Kenghe
Fruits vegetables sample from field research must be cleaned prior to weighing, grading and processing for value addition. Soil and other foreign materials must be removed. The objective of this study was to develop a low–cost mechanical fruit and vegetable washer to reduce the labor and time requirements. A Prototype of mechanical fruit washer (50 kg capacity) was designed, developed and performance was evaluated. The effect of three different rotor speeds (1466, 1476 and 1486 rpm) and 20 cm (110 lit) effective depth of water on capacity and performance index was evaluated. Potato was used for performance evaluation of washer. The cost of manual to mechanical washing for potato was 5.89:1. The average cost of mechanical washing was Rs. 24.80 per tonne. The cost machine was Rs. 14,650/- including electric motor. The overall dimensions of machine were 1000 x 560 x 750 mm.
Fruits, Vegetables, Cleaning, Washing, Processing.