Abstract
ABSTRACTPotato peel, as the outermost tissue of the fruit, playing a role of protection and fresh keeping on the pulp tissue, is crucial for the design of potato harvesting machines. In this study, two types of potato ‘Yangyu 4’ and ‘Helan 14’ were selected to conduct friction, tensile and tear tests on their peel. Longitudinal and transverse tensile tests were conducted on the peels of two potato cultivars using an electronic universal testing machine, and tear tests were carried out on peels as well. The static friction coefficient for different materials, stress-strain curves and tear force-deformation curves of the peels were obtained and the tensile strength, elastic modulus, failure strain tear strength of the peels were measured. The results showed that the maximum value of the static friction coefficient against metallic materials was and against rubber materials, respectively. The maximum values of the tensile strength, elastic modulus, fracture strain, tear strength were 1.648 MPa, 0.388 MPa, 4.5%, 0.326 kN·m-1, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy images show that many compact and regular polygonal similar-grain grid structures distributed onty the epidermis surface and microcrack basically did not exist on the peel. The spherical micro-convex structures arranged closely and linearly at the boundary of the grid structure. Hierarchical structure surface with spherical micro-convex structures was one of the reasons for its outstanding friction coefficient. The bearing capacity of the peel depended on the number and distribution of grid structures on the surface, and the size and shape of the epidermal cells.
Highlights
In the process of friction performance test, it was observed that the friction coefficient of potato peel against rubber materials was larger than that against metallic materials, which can be used as an index to evaluate the friction performance of potato peel
Three measurement methods were successfully applied in order to test tensile strength, elastic modulus, fracture strain, tear strength, and static friction coefficient
In the friction performance test process, it was observed that the friction coefficient of potato peel against rubber materials is larger than that against metallic materials, which can be used as an index to evaluate the friction performance of potato peel
Summary
Facts show that vast majority of mechanical damages to potatoes come from the process of harvesting.[1,2,3] Mechanical damage and collision abrasion seriously affect potato yield and cause double decline of potatoes’ appearance and quality so as to implicate the development of the entire potato industry.[4,5,6] In the entire process of harvesting, packaging, handling, transportation, storage and sale, there are static load, squeeze, vibration, collision, impact as well as other forms of load, formed the immediate damage of potato based on the form of plastic or brittle failure[7,8,9,10], and it is inevitable that the first to be damaged is potato peel. Facts have proved that when the potato peel was broken, the potato pulp tissue would be gradually darken and damaged to completely not edible as food. As the outermost tissue of the fruit, playing a protective and fresh keeping role on the potato pulp tissue, has strong resistance to microbial infection and mechanical damage. The potato peel is crucial for the designing of potato harvesting machines as
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