Development and performance evaluation of foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) dehuller

Abstract

Foxtail millet dehuller for double stage dehulling was developed and evaluated. The machine consists of a hopper, two knurled rolls, two rubber rolls, an air blower, and a grader. The machine was evaluated for foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) at the different grain moisture content (10, 12, 14, and 17% [w.b.]), types of knurled rolls (diamond, angular, and straight knurled) and feed rate (100,200,300 kg/hr) for performance evaluation or efficiency. The maximum dehulling efficiency and cleaning efficiency of 82.24 and 82.47% was observed for 12% moisture content (w.b.), diamond-type knurled roll and 100 kg/hr feed rate. Similarly, the maximum head grain yield of 97.82% and the minimum broken of 2.18% was observed for 12% moisture content (w.b.), diamond-type knurled roll and 300 kg/hr feed rate. There was no significant change in the color values with the treatments. The predicted optimum condition for the machine is moisture content 12% (w.b.), diamond-type knurled roll and feed rate of 100 kg/hr, which gave an optimum dehulling efficiency of 82.24%, head grain yield of 95.84%, broken of 4.16%, and cleaning efficiency of 82.47% with the desirability of 0.825. The economic analysis shows the suitability of the machine for small-scale millet processors.Practical Applications: Dehulling of millets is an essential unit operation in millet processing. This study evaluated the performance analysis of the developed dehuller for foxtail millet at different grain moisture content, types of knurled rolls, and feed rate. The process parameters were optimized, which can be used to design the dehuller for millets. The results obtained show the relevance of applying the developed dehuller for foxtail millet applications, providing an alternative processing machine for millet processing. 1 | INTRODUCTION Millet is a cereal crop that belongs to the Graminae family. It belongs to small-seeded annual grass and is classified under the five genera: Panicum, Setaria, Echinochloa, Pennisetum, and Paspalum in the tribe Paniceae and one genus, Eleusine, in the tribe Chlorideae. Millets have been consumed as a staple food for thousands of years in countries like Africa and India. Based on size and usage, millets are classified into major millets (Pearl millet, sorghum, and maize and minor [Foxtail millet, finger millet, kodo millet, proso millet, barnyard millet, and brown top millet]). Millets are rich in nutrients like carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and important dietary protein sources. Minor millets can be consumed in combination with other millets or cereals or as a single grain. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) is one of the ancient crops probably domesticated in eastern Asia and known to the Chinese as early as 2700 B.C It was also reported that foxtail millet crop dates back to 2000 years by agricultural sites from Switzerland and Austria. The

Review on millets dehulling and pearling technologies and machinery

“…It is one of the oldest grains farmed in Europe and Asia, with China accounting for more than half of global production (Chikkaballapur Krishnappa et al, 2022). The crop grows quickly in cooler climates and matures in 70-120 days.…”

“…The likely origin of foxtail millet or Italian millet is China; nonetheless, the grain was domesticated throughout the Neolithic culture. It is one of the oldest grains farmed in Europe and Asia, with China accounting for more than half of global production (Chikkaballapur Krishnappa et al, 2022). The crop grows quickly in cooler climates and matures in 70–120 days.…”

“…Additionally, foxtail millet's functional properties make it a promising food for replacing animal protein foods. Chikkaballapur Krishnappa et al (2022) developed and evaluated a foxtail millet dehuller for double‐stage dehulling. The machine's efficiency was evaluated based on different grain MC, types of knurled rolls, and feed rates.…”

“…This offers a comprehensive theoretical framework for the entire apparatus. The machinery must encompass fundamental considerations such as cost‐effectiveness, ease of adjustment, disassembly, cleaning, and fabrication, as well as minimizing kernel damage, conforming to machine design ISI codes mandated by the government (Chikkaballapur Krishnappa et al, 2022). The complete dehulling process for millets can be segmented into series of unit operations, that is, cleaning of raw millets, conditioning for moisture adjustment and ease of dehusking, dehusking to remove husk, separation of husk, and grading of milled products (Figure 1).…”

Design and development of food processing equipment

“…In addition to that the developed equipments will reduce unhygienic handling, human drudgery, and hence quality dairy products can be manufactured at low cost. Besides these, the processing equipments for onion (Tito Anand, Anandakumar, Pare, Chandrasekar, & Venkatachalapathy, 2022), millets (Chikkaballapur Krishnappa, Saravanan, & Natarajan, 2022), jackfruit (Nelluri et al, 2022), and walnut (Hussain et al, 2022) are also designed, developed and evaluated for the benefits of farmers.…”