Development of a Combined Milling and Sifting Machine for use in Pupuru (Cassava flour) Processing Plant

The concern of the entire nation over the need to ensure food security is continually becoming more apparent every day. Hence, this has led researchers, industrialists, investors and government agencies to begin aggressively develop series of devices to reduce the level of drudgery associated with processing, and formulation of varieties of food items to enhance food productivity and quality. Pupuru, a derivative of cassava, is one of the foodstuffs whose global demand is on the increase but its production is at low pace as a result of the crude techniques and implement utilize in its post-processing. Post-processing of cassava into pupuru involves series of stages, ranging from peeling to packaging. Combination of two or more of these processing stages is one of the potential measures of enhancing the productivity of the product, and financial benefits of the stakeholders. This study focused on the development and performance evaluation of a combined milling-sifting machine for use in 5.0 kg/batch Pupuru processing plant. the machine comprises a gear reduction motor, milling chamber, vibrating tray and sets of extension spring connected in parallel for magnifying the vibration produced during operation. The results of the performance revealed that the throughput capacity and sifting efficiency of the machine range between 69.30 – 82.92 kg/h and 86.30 – 95.30 % when used to process feedstock with moisture content in the range of 5 – 6 %. It was observed that the performance of the machine improves with reduction in the feedstock moisture content. It was concluded that the incorporation of the machine into pupuru processing line would enhance the yield and quality to meet the ever-increasing global demand for cassava flour