DESIGN FABRICATION AND EVALUATION OF

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Moringa oleifera is the most widely cultivated species of monogeneric family, the

Moringaceae, which is indigenous to south Asia, where it grows in the Himalayan

foothills from north-eastern Pakistan to Northern West Bengal, India (Sharma, et al.,

2011). This plant grows most commonly in hot tropical regions like the Philippines or

India. It has low demand for soil nutrients and water which makes its production and

management easy. This plant is well known as a miracle plant because of the claims that

both of its leaves and fruit are one of the most nutritious foods. This plant is usually

present in Southeast-Asian cuisine and very popular among Filipinos as they include its

leaves or fruit or sometimes both as ingredients for pinakbet or baradibud.

Malunggay fruit, also known as moringa pods or drumsticks, are prepared as a

culinary vegetable, often cut into shorter lengths and stewed in curries and soups. It has

delicate sweet flavour with a hint of bittersweet aftertaste. Some say that it is best stewed

with other vegetables while in some Asian regions; they usually incorporate the pods

with curry. Peeling and preparing the pods before cooking needs time and effort to do so.

To increase the speed of peeling of moringa pods by incorporating mechanical

engineering principles, the researcher propose a machine for peeling moringa pods.

Hence, the design, fabrication and evaluation of manually operated moringa pods peeler

is envisioned
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1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to design, fabricate and evaluate the manually

operated moringa pods peeler. Specifically, this study aims:

1. to reduce the amount of time used in peeling the moringa pods

2. to maintain the uniformity of the appearance of the peeled moringa pods

3. to determine the capacity of the machine to peel the moringa pods in terms of

kilogram of moringa pods being peeled per hour of operation

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study will be beneficial for common culinary use especially in household by

ensuring time efficient preparation for moringa pods. It will also give insight for more

uses of moringa pods that requires it to be peeled.

The study will also be beneficial to the proprietor by means of further utilization

of engineering knowledge. The study also benefits the future researchers by serving as

reference for further studies.

1.4 SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of study focuses on the designing, fabricating and testing of manually

operated moringa pods peeler within the grounds of Pangasinan State University

Metalwork Center. The process of designing, fabricating and testing will undergo during
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the academic year 2019-2020. This study have the following limitations to be considered:

the young moringa pods, which generally have diameter of 1.7 centimeters to 2

centimeters, should be used in this study; the young moringa pods should have the ends

removed and; the young moringa pods should be cut into shorter pieces with lengths of

10 centimeters to 15 centimeters

1.5 DEFINITION OF TERMS

For the purpose of better understanding, the terms are defined within the context of the

study.

Moringa Pods – are trilobed capsules, and are frequently referred to as pods which are

green and in some varieties have some reddish color when immature and pendulous,

brown, triangular, splitting lengthwise into three parts when dry

Peeler/Peeling machine – a machine used for removing inedible or undesirable material

to increase the overall quality and/or appearance of a product.

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CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDY

This chapter presents the concept and theories that helped in guiding the

researcher throughout the study.

2.1 RELATED LITERATURES

Moringa Pods

Moringa is a drought tolerant, medium-sized, evergreen tree that prefers warm,

frost-free climates to flourish. Its tender leaves and twigs can be harvested at any time

from a well-established, 1.5 to 2 meters tall plant. Taller plants bear cream-white, small

size flowers in clusters throughout the season, which subsequently develop into long

slender dark-green, three-sided, edible seedpods with tapering ends.

Fresh greens and tender seed pods are used extensively in the cooking in Asia,

Africa, and Caribbean cuisine. Only tender growing tips and young leaves employed as

greens in the cooking. However, mature leaves, dried, powdered and can be stored for

extended periods to be used in the recipes (akin to dried fenugreek leaves-kasoori methi,

in India and Pakistan). Moringa pods and greens feature in the recipes on a regular basis

in many Asian traditions. In the Philippines (malunggay), where they marketed all around

the season, its leaves are used liberally in soups, stews with fish, prawns, and poultry.
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Machine Design

Mechanical Design or Machine Design is one of the important branches of

Engineering Design. To understand what exactly machine design or mechanical design is

let us consider the example of the gear box of the car. The gear box transmits the motion

and the power of the engine to the wheels of the vehicle. The gearbox comprises group of

gears which are subjected to not only motion but also the load of the vehicle. For the

gears to run at desired speeds and take desired loads it is important that they should be

designed. During designing various calculations are performed considering desired

speeds and loads and finally the gear of particular material and specific dimensions that

can take all loads and that can be manufactured at least possible cost giving optimum

performance is designed. In similar fashion all the components of the car, including

engine, have to be designed so that they optimally meet all the functional requirements at

lowest possible cost. This whole process of designing is called as machine design or

mechanical design.

Mise en Place

Mise en place is a French term for having all your ingredients measured, cut,

peeled, sliced, grated, etc. before you start cooking. Pans are prepared. Mixing bowls,

tools and equipment set out. It is a technique chefs use to assemble meals so quickly and

effortlessly. In a restaurant setting, mise en place is absolutely vital. Having ingredients

and supplies prepped and ready ensures that the cooking process goes seamlessly. The
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chef doesn't have to pause in the middle of cooking to pick up more arugula at the

grocery store. It helps ensure quality and consistency in cooking.

But mise en place can benefit chefs at home, too. If you've ever made a recipe

without reading it first, you know that sometimes things move very quickly. Not having

the ingredients ready to go can even ruin the recipe or affect the outcome.

2.2 RELATED STUDIES

Development of Pineapple Peeler-cum-Slicer

Manually peeling and slicing of pineapple is a time consuming and labour

intensive process. Pine apple peeler and slicer are required for reducing the size,

obtaining uniform thick slices, proper shape finishing and further processing of pineapple

quickly. In our study, 20 Kew varieties of pineapples were purchased from the market

and their diameters were measured. The pineapples were then cut by a stainless steel

knife and the thickness of the peel and diameter of central core were also measured.

The values were then averaged out to determine the dimensions of peeler–cum-

slicer, we planned to design.

The quality and status of equipment used for peeling and cutting is critical in

fresh-cut processing operations. Sharpest cutting tools will extend product shelf-life and

enhance the surface finishing.

A peeler-cum-slicer was designed with slicing plate of diameter 7 cm and core

diameter of 2.5 cm. It removes the core and produces pineapple rings of uniform
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thickness & diameter in a single motion. This is a hand operated peeler cum slicer which

works satisfactorily with easy operation. Twenty numbers of pineapple fruits can easily

be peeled and sliced by skilled worker in one hour with this designed device. The

designed peeler-cum-slicer has also proved to have high peeling efficiency (97.2 %) with

less wastage percentage (5.3%).