Mechanical extraction of palmyrah fruit pulp

Abstract

A mechanical palmyrah fruit pulp extractor was constructed which had square blades fitted at an angle to the vertical shaft through rods. The shaft was connected with a 0.75 horse power motor. A gear box was used to regulate the rpm. Using this extractor, the manual and mechanical extraction of pulp from palmyrah fruit were compared. The rate and cost (in Sri Lankan Rupees, SLR) for manual extraction of fuit pulp are 11.9 min fruit−1 and SLR 1.52 fruit−1 while for mechanical extraction the figures are 0.48 min fruit−1 and SLR 0.54 fruit−1 respectively, The amount of pulp extracted per fruit by manual and mechanical processes was 0.63 kg with 11–13% brix and 0.84 kg with 9–10% brix respectively. Eventhough there is a 2% difference in the brix content of the pulp obtained by the two processes, the soluble solids separated per fruit is the same (0.08 kg fruit−1) in both processes.