Nut Cracking Machine for Terminalia catappa (Tropical Almond/ Kottamba)

Abstract

Tropical almond (Terminalia catappa) is an underutilized crop that belongs to Combretacea family. This plant has been identified as an important medicinal plant owing to its antioxidant and therapeutic properties against cancer and diabetes as proven in numerous pharmacological studies. In its processing, the adoption of manual cracking method results in damages of nuts with high risk of injuries to workers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to design, develop and evaluate a motorized tropical almond nut-cracking machine to minimize the damages on nuts. Major components of the machine are an electric motor as the power source, conveyor belt, fruit holders and impact hammer. Power is transmitted to the crankshaft from the electric motor by means of a belt and pulleys. The rotating crankshaft moves the hammer up and down to apply an impact on the fruit while the belt conveyor feeds fruits towards the hammer. After shattering, the nuts are separated from the shells through oscillatory action. At the performance evaluation of the machine, it was realized that damages caused to fruits and the operator were negligible. The machine weighs 62.5 kg and the total production cost of the machine was 65,000.00 LKR. Actual capacities of manual and mechanical cracking were 184 and 285 nuts/hr, respectively, while theoretical capacities were 225 and 327 nuts/hr, respectively. The comparative figures of the manual and mechanical cracking for field efficiencies were 82% and 87%, respectively. Therefore, this mechanical nut-cracking device could be recommended to replace laborious manual method of nut-cracking for tropical almond (Kottamba).