Development and testing of a double‐action cassava grater with an automated contact plate

Abstract

Cassava grating is a size reduction process that converts peeled cassava tubers into cassava mash. Grating cassava tubers using the conventional graters makes the process tedious and labor‐intensive. Thus, a double‐action cassava grating machine with an automated contact plate was developed, and the machine performance was evaluated. A 3 × 5 central composite rotatable design (CCRD) of response surface methodology ( RSM) was adopted for the performance test experiments. The machine parameters are grating speeds, g s (765, 865, and 965 rpm), conveying time, c t (7.37, 5.84, 4.40, 3.00, and 1.69 s); (6.67, 5.00, 3.55, 2.40, and 1.19 s); and (5.97, 4.38, 3.19, 2.00, and 0.97 s) at 765, 865, and 965 rpm respectively; and the contact plate control timing, cpct (5.85, 11.91, 17.16, 26.69, and 30.44 s) were selected. The throughput ( TP) and grating efficiency ( GE) were determined. Data analysis was carried out using multiple linear regressions at α = 0.05. Maximum TP of 26.64 kg/hr was obtained at g s (965 rpm), c t (3.19 s), and t scp (5.85 s), while maximum GE of 74.25% was obtained at g s (765 rpm), c t (4.40 s), and t scp (17.16 s). TP increased with an increase in g s, but decreased with an increase in c pct and c t. Hence, the developed cassava grating machine is a viable option to large scale cassava processors due to the ease of operation, less processing time, and less man‐power demand as a result of machine automation. Practical Applications Despite a considerable improvement in the advancement of machines for grating cassava tubers, there is still some tedious activities experienced during the process of cassava grating. To this end, there is a need for innovation of technological application in cassava grating. Thus, a double‐action cassava grater with automated contact plate capable of integrating several operations involved in cassava grating and finishing in one pass was developed, and the performance was evaluated. CCRD of RSM was employed to design the experiment to evaluate the effects of the machine operating parameters on the performance of the cassava grating system based on the machine throughput and grating efficiency. The developed cassava grating system will be a useful option for large‐scale cassava processing due to the continuous grating operation achieve in the machine, which is suitable for cassava processing industry where the large scale of cassava tubers is being processed.