Factors Affecting the Design of a Grading Machine for Egyptian-Lime Fruits

Abstract

The aim of this research is to design a grading machine according to the physical and mechanical properties of lemon fruits. The main results in this study can be summarized in the following points: The maximum fruit damage of 4.7, 4.1and 8.9 % for fruit sizes 35, 40 mm and total count, respectively were obtained with grading speed of 8 rpm (0.08 m/s) and fruit batch of 20 kg. Meanwhile, the minimum fruitdamage of zero % for all fruit sizes was obtained with grading speed of 11-14 rpm (0.12-0.15 m/s) and fruit batch of 5 kg. The maximum range of grading-machine productivity for lemon fruits of 220.7-760.9 kg/h was obtained with grading speed range of 5-14 rpm (0.05-0.15 m/s) and fruit batch of 20 kg. Meanwhile, the minimum range of gradingmachine productivity for lemon fruits of 142.8-492.3 kg/h was obtained with grading speed range of 5-14 rpm (0.05-0.15 m/s) and fruit batch of 5 kg. The operation and production costs were 7.37 L.E./h and 64.84, 19.8 L.E./ton at optimum conditions (grading speed of 11 rpm or 0.12 m/s and fruit batch of 10 kg). 1. INTRODUCTION ost harvest sorting and grading of fruits is a difficult and labour intensive component of the commercial fresh fruit market. Citrus are the major horticultural crops in Egypt. The cultivated area of citrus is 346.24 thousand feddans (145.42 thousand hectare) in 2002. The areas of orange, tangerine and lemon are about 210, 94 and 38 thousand feddans (88.2, 39.48 and 15.96 thousand hectare), respectively. The total annual production of citrus in Egypt is about 2.8 million ton, in 2002. The productions of orange, mandarin (Citrus deliciosa. Blanco) and lemon are about 181, 602 and 334 thousand tons respectively. (1) ,(2) and (3) Chief Res. and Res., Ag. Eng. Res. Inst. Respectively.