DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A FRUIT JUICE EXTRACTION MACHINE

This research centers on the design, development and testing of a motorized juice extractor fabricated using locally-available materials. The machine is made essentially of two basic compartments: the chopping compartment and the juice extracting compartment. Other components include feeding hoppers, top cover, auger conveyor housed in a cylindrical barrel, juice sieve, juice collector, waste outlet, transmission belt, main frame, pulleys and bearings. In operation, fruits introduced into the chopping compartment via the first hopper are chopped/sliced and passed into the extracting compartment via a second hopper. The auger conveys, crushes, presses and squeezes the fruits to extract the juice. The juice extracted is filtered through the juice sieve into juice collector while the residual waste is discharged through waste outlet. When tested for freshly harvested pineapple, ginger and orange fruits, results show that the average juice yield for pineapple, orange and ginger were respectively 74 %, 72 % and 34 %; juice extraction efficiencies were respectively 84 %, 80 % and 71 %; and juice extraction losses were respectively 18 %, 16 % and 9 % at optimum machine speed of 335 rpm for pineapple and oranges, and 476 rpm for ginger. Powered by a 3hp electric motor, the machine has a capacity to process 30 litres/hr of oranges, 32 litres/hr of pineapples and 24 litres/hr of ginger and the machine costs of aboutN54,600, hence it is affordable for small-scale farmers.

Before the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantity in the 1970s, agriculture was the mainstay and sustaining source of the Nigerian economy. The agricultural sector contributed immensely to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation. The discovery of oil and the boom that resulted from the exploitation of crude oil in the 70’s inflicted a big blow on the agricultural sector as all attention was shifted to oil, leading to the neglect of this vital sector (Fasanya et al., 2013). Various programmes such as Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) of 1976 and the Green Revolution of 1979 were embarked upon to ensure that there is enough food for the ever-growing population of Nigeria. This agricultural potential was what Nigeria exploited in the pre-independence and the post-independence period prior to 1975, which gave it its leadership position internationally in the production and export of agricultural products (CBN, 2004). Well over 50 % of the country’s total export earnings came from the agricultural sector prior to the 1970s (CBN, 2004; Ndubisi et al., 2013). Furthermore, the agricultural sector accounted for about 50 % of the GDP and employed about 72 % of the labour force on average between 1960 and 1970 (CBN, 2004; Fasanya et al., 2013).

In developed countries like the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Great Britain etc., the productivity of the Agricultural sector is always on the increase. These achievements results from their high level of mechanization.