FARMER'S NOTEBOOK
Hand-operated equipment for removing amla seed
M.J. PRABU
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The entire machine has been electroplated to avoid blackening of parts
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LABOUR EFFICIENT: The parts of equipment coming in contact with the fruit are made of stainless steel. — Photo: TNAU
AMLA, AN edible fruit indigenous to tropical India, has extensive adaptability to grow in diverse climatic and soil conditions.
It is a rich source of vitamin C and is used for manufacturing medicines to treat diseases such as diabetes, skin diseases, leprosy, jaundice and in hair oil to prevent greying of hair.
A number of processed products such as amla pulp, squash, candy pickle and sauce are also prepared from the fruit.
Enhanced demand
The growing popularity for alternate medicines and herbal products has enhanced the demand for this fruit. Like other herbs, amla has been in used as a medicine for centuries in India.
Though the trees continue to bear fruits till 60-70 years of age, the fruiting season is short and is usually October to January.
The harvested fruits have a short shelf life and cannot be preserved for a long period. Raw fruits are not consumed due to high acid content and astringent taste.
Hence processing and storage is essential especially for farmers who are cultivating this crop in an extensive area.
Seed removal
Usually for most of the value added preparations from amla, the seed has to be manually removed from the fruit and then used. In normal practice, the seed is removed by blanching or by shredding.
But during blanching (immersing the fruits in boiling water), valuable nutrients are lost and by shredding, the flesh of the fruit is damaged and the juice is lost or wasted.
Researchers at the Post Harvest Technology Centre of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, have developed a technology whereby the seeds can be removed without causing any damage to the flesh and at the same time increasing the shelf life of the fruit.
Minimum juice loss
"The equipment could be utilised for the seed removal from the fresh fruit with minimum loss of juice and the whole seedless fruit can be used for preparation of value added products," said Dr. K. Thangavel, Professor and Head, Post Harvest Technology Centre, Agricultural Engineering College & Research Institute, TNAU. The hand-operated seed removing equipment consists of a fruit-punching rod, fruit resting seat, handle with extension and a frame to hold all the important movable parts.
The parts of the equipment coming in contact with the fruit were made of stainless steel and all other parts were made of mild steel, he explained.
The entire equipment was electroplated to avoid blackening of parts when it comes in contact with the ascorbic acid present in the fruit.
The fruit, which is to be destoned, is kept on the seat on the platform, which has hole at the centre of the seat.
A rod connected to the handle punches the fruit with a shock load, which makes the seed portion of the fruit to move down through the hole provided at the centre of the seat.
After every punching the seed is removed and the fruit has a hole at the centre.
Time consumption
The machine can be operated by a single person and has the capacity to remove seeds from about 17 kg of fruits in one hour. The cost of the equipment is about Rs.1,500 .
Readers can contact Dr. K. Thangavel, Professor and Head, Post Harvest Technology Centre, Agricultural Engineering College & Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu-600003, email:phtc@tnau.ac.in, Phone: 0422 - 6611268 and 6611340.
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