A locust bean steaming, dehulling and separating machine was designed in this study by simulating the traditional processing operations. The machine consist of pressure cooking pot (as the cooking device) mounted on a separate stand and equipped with rocker-arm system to facilitate discharge of contents, a hopper made of mild steel sheet, the dehulling unit made of screwed shaft and abrasive barrel, a conical-shaped separating section equipped with paddles (made of aluminum material) and a standing frame to support the whole arrangement. The machine was evaluated by processing seed at cooking times of 30, 45, 60 and 90 min. The result indicated increase in dehulling efficiency with increase in cooking time from 30 to 60 min while it dropped at 90 min. The highest dehulling efficiency of 82% was obtained at cooking time of 60 min. The separation efficiency obtained at this optimal cooking time was 79%.Keyword Locust beans . Nutritive value . Processing . Drudgery . Machine . EfficiencyThe African locust beans (Parkia biglobosa, (Jacq.) G. Don) is a member of the leguminoseae family. The tree is a 7-20 m tall perennial deciduous tree named Parkia Biglobosa after Mungo Park, Scot who made two remarkable journeys of exploration into the interior of West Africa (Adewumi and Igbeka 1993;Audu et al. 2004) The multipurpose tree has seeds with a hard testa and these seeds are large with a mean weight of about 0.3 g/seed and the cotyledons form about 70% of the weight. These seeds are borne in pods that may carry up to 30 seeds embedded in a yellow pericarp and the colour of these pods change from pink brown to dark brown as maturity sets in. The tree also bears alternate, dark green bipinate leaves and hermaphrodite flowers. The seeds are brown-blackish. Each seed has a 0.5-1 cm funicle, spherical-ovoid and slightly compressed laterally. The testa is hard, smooth and glossy. Seed size varies within pod, with those at the centre being largest. It is widely used for its remarkable nutritional value and the dietary value it contains. The seeds are rich in protein, lipids and vitamin B2 and when fermented are rich in lysine. The fat in the beans is nutritionally useful (approximately 60% unsaturated). The seeds are which are particularly valued for their high protein are fermented for cooking. Fermented locust beans are commonly used in soups and stews. The embedding yellow pulp of the seeds sometimes called dozim which have a high energy value is used as a sweetener as it contains 60% sugar (Audu et al. 2004) It is also supposedly a water purifier and is taken for fevers. The fruit is a source of food during drought. The leaves are edible and sometimes mixed with cereal and are added in lotions for sore eyes burns, haemorrhoids and toothache. Medicinally, the bark is used as a mouthwash and also macerated in baths to cure leprosy. It is also used for a wide range of ailments such as malaria diarrhoea, jaundice and so on (Audu et al. 2004). The tree is a good source of timber though is rapidly spoiled by pests.The t...
Cereal Chem. 94(4):705-711Infrared (IR) heating of corn followed by tempering treatments has potential to decontaminate corn of microbes without adverse effects on the overall corn quality. However, it is vital to determine the optimal processing parameters that maximize throughput and microbial load reduction and minimize drying energy without affecting overall corn quality. This study investigated effects of IR heating and tempering treatments on mold load reduction, corn color change, and drying energy requirements. Freshly harvested corn samples with initial moisture contents (IMCs) of 20, 24, and 28% wet basis were dried with a laboratory-scale IR batch dryer in one and two drying passes. The dried samples were then tempered for 2, 4, and 6 h at 50, 70, and 90°C. Results showed that mold load reduction ranged from 1 to 3.8 log colony forming units per gram of corn (log CFU/g) for one-pass treatments and from 0.8 to 4.4 log CFU/g for two-pass treatments as tempering temperature and tempering duration increased. Compared with the control, treatments resulted in reduction of the corn color parameter (DE) (P < 0.05). Energy expended to dry the corn varied between 1.7 and 2.5 MJ/kg for one-pass treatments and between 4.1 and 6.1 MJ/kg for two-pass treatments. This work showed that IR heating of corn has the potential to significantly decontaminate microbes on corn. The IR process may help producers combat mycotoxin issues in corn that result from mold contamination. † Corresponding
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