Study on optimization of mechanical peeling for sweet potato

Abstract

The aim of this research work was to optimize the machine parameters of a commercially available tuber peeler for peeling of sweet potato to get maximum yield with minimum loss. The process was proposed for different parameters such as peeling efficiency, material loss and peeling effectiveness at different speeds of rotating disc (300, 400 and 500 rev/min or 5.4, 7.2 and 9 m/s), peeling durations (20, 40 and 60 s) and batch loads of 1 and 2 kg. The study revealed that the peeling parameters were greatly influenced by the speed of rotating disc, peeling duration and batch loads. The optimal conditions for peeling sweet potato were a peeling duration of 40 s and speed of rotating disc of 500 rev/min 2 kg batch loads. The corresponding peeling efficiency, peeling effectiveness and material loss were 83.8±2.0%, 74.2±1.3% and 11.45±0.71%, respectively. Further, the study showed that a batch load of 2 kg was suitable for commercial processing of sweet potato than 1 kg because of the better performance indices of peeling.