CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Yam belongs to the class of carbohydrate type of food and had been one of the

oldest recipes known to man. It has been a major food crop in many of the African/

Caribbean’s countries such as Ghana, Ethiopia, Benin Republic and Nigeria in

particular. Also, in some other parts of the world such as Brazil, India, Oceania and

Latin America; yam is a major source of food (Jimoh, 2019). Yam, being one of

the most sumptuous meals, can be prepared in diverse ways. While the Yoruba

tribe may prefer it dried, milled and then made into a slightly solid paste called

“Amala”, the Igbos prefer cutting the tuber into smaller blocks or bits, boiled and

eaten, in order to avoid the tedious nature of pounding the boiled yam which

results to bond formation like Nigeria’s locally prepared fufu (Olaoye & Oyewole,

2012). However, the process of meshing or beating something into pulp or powder

with repeated heavy blows is known as pounding.

Pounded yam is a smooth dough of smashed yam often eaten with a vegetable and

fish or meat stew (egusi or ogbonor or Edikaekon or banga soup). It is a very

popular African food especially in the Middle Belt, Eastern and southern Nigeria

(Nweke, et al., 2013). The manual pounding method is very laborious and time
consuming depending on the quantity to pound. At the moment, the global food

industry would find it much profitable when the food processing and packaging

operations are suitably improved and adapted. Therefore, food companies and

businesses strive to explore and invest in techniques and methods that increase

product quality and customer preference for their products while boosting overall

production (Sani & Aziz, 2013). The development of pounding machines has

helped to replace human effort in the pounding process. The yam pounding

machines have been designed and constructed to ease the preparation of pounded

yam. This helps to eliminate the stresses arising from the manual method of using

mortar and pestle.

Pounders are machines or devices which apply either torque or reciprocating force

on a piece of solid nature for the purpose of changing its form from solid to a semi

solid state or paste. Presently, there are two modes of pounding: Rotary (torque)

pounding, Impact (reciprocating) pounding. This mode reciprocates in its

operation. The mortar and pestle mode of pounding is classified under this mode

(Faluyi & Opadoja, 2018). The rotary mode of pounding involves the crushing of

the boiled yam through the torque rotary force produced from a bowl via pulley

and shaft connected to the blade. It is on this principle that the design of this

machine and other existing yam pounders are based.

So many machines have been designed and fabricated by foreign and local firms,

to improve on the condition of pounding. The foreign ones are not readily available

because they are expensive. The high cost of production and maintenance are

factors that affect the fabrication of yam pounding machines. Having put all these

factors into consideration, the need then arose to design a yam pounding machine

for local use.

1.2 Problem Statement

Traditional method of preparing pounded-yam involves peeling of yam tubers,

cutting it into pieces, washed and carefully arranged in a pot with water for boiling.

The pieces of yam with water in a pot is left on the fire to boil for about 40 to 50

minutes, after which the boiled yam is transferred into the mortar one by one in

preparation for pounding operation. The traditional yam pounding process involves

2 – 3 strong men or women depending on the size of mortar and the quantity of

boiled yam in the mortar. Each of these pounders holds a pestle in his or her hands

with which he or she pounds. The two or three pounders do the pounding

repeatedly in a systematic way until the texture of the pounded-yam become

smooth and soft, without lumps.

The pounding operation usually last for about 30 – 40 minutes depending on the

quantity of boiled yam in the mortar. Thereafter, the pounded-yam is served in flat

plate with choicest soup and meat served along with it in another plate. This
pounding operation is observed to be stressful and time consuming. It is these

problems discussed below that make most housewives in Nigeria avoid preparing

pounded-yam for their household except on special occasions. The associated

problems with traditional yam pounding method are briefly summarized as

follows: body fatigue, time consuming, unhygienic preparation and poor coloration

with impurity. Thus, to efficiently resolve these issues, this research was

undertaken to design and fabricate a motor-driven yam pounding machine.

1.3 Aims/Objectives

The aim of this project is to design and fabricate a portable motor-driven yam

pounding machine for home use, through the following objectives:

(i) To carry out design analysis of a portable motor-driven yam pounding

machine.

(ii) To fabricate a portable motor-driven yam pounding machine

(iii) To Perform an economic analysis of portable motor-driven yam pounding

machine.

(iv) To carryout performance evaluation of the portable motor-driven yam

pounding machine.

1.4 Significance of Study

The significance of this design and fabrication is to take away manual work

expended in pounding machines which takes time and absorbs so much energy.
The availability of this machine will simplify domestic chores for Nigerian women

and allow restaurant businesses to provide pounded yam to its numerous clients

within the shortest notice thereby improving service quality. The machine will also

help save economic costs associated with manual pounding which include labour

costs and health costs.

1.5 Scope and Limitation of Study

The scope and limitations of study for this project are as follow;

(i) The only interest is in developing a machine that does only one function:

pounding.

(ii) No ergonomic design is carried out.

(iii) A detailed material selection design is not carried out.