AGRICULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
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Item Design, construction and performance evaluation of a portable sweet potato slicer(Nigerian Institution of Agricultural Engineers, 2021) Oyefeso, B. O.; Adeyemi, T. S.This study focused on the design, construction and performance evaluation of a portable motorized sweet potato slicer. The components of the slicer include a feeding trough, frame, slicing disc, collection tray and power transmission unit. The machine was powered by a 1 hp electric motor. A 3 x 2 factorial experiment in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used to investigate the effects of operational speeds (312, 406 and 501 rpm) and tuber diameters (25-50 and 51-70 mm) on the performance of the machine in terms of slicing efficiency and machine capacity. The performance evaluation of the slicer was carried out in triplicates and ANOVA was used in evaluating the results. The results from the study showed that variations in operational speed had significant effect (p≤0.05) on slicing efficiency and machine capacity while effect of tuber size was only significant (p ≤ 0.05) on capacity and not significant on the slicing efficiency. The slicing efficiency of the slicer increased from 74.4% to 94.1% and 76.0% to 96.4% for 25-50 mm and 51-70 mm tuber diameters respectively as the operational speed decreased from 501 to 312 rpm. The optimum rotational speed of the slicer obtained was 312 rpm at an average efficiency of 94.5% and capacity of 128.46 kg/h. The thickness of the slices produced from the slicer ranged from 2-4 mm. The machine helped to reduce drudgery associated with manual slicing of sweet potato.Item Estimating Mass and Volume of Nigerian Grown Sweet and Irish Potato Tubers using their Geometrical Attributes(Adeleke University, 2018) Oyefeso, B. O.; Raji, A. O.Sweet and Irish potato are tuber crops which have been domesticated and cultivated in different parts of the world including Nigeria. They are often prepared in various ways for food. A good knowledge of the physical properties of these tuber crops will enhance proper design of post-harvest processing machines and handling equipment with high level of performance. Also, functional relationships established between the various physical properties of these crops could assist in ensuring proper handling and more efficient and economical processing. This study was therefore, aimed at developing mathematical models for predicting the mass and volume of sweet and Irish potato tubers using some of their geometrical attributes. The research was conducted on fresh sweet and Irish potato tubers which were sorted into four fractions based on their individual mass. The physical characteristics measured include the mass, volume, linear dimensions (length, width and thickness) and the projected areas taken along the three mutually-perpendicular axes. The models were divided into three classifications namely: single and multiple variable regression models based on linear dimensions; single and multiple variable regression models based on the projected areas; single variable regression models based on mass or volume. Mass and volume models based on the projected areas and the volume were the best models for both crops. The highest coefficient of determination (R2) for sweet potato was obtained for mass model based on the projected area along the longitudinal plane (R2 = 0.981) while mass model expressed on the basis of the multiple regression of the three linear dimensions performed best (R2 = 0.968) for Irish potato. This study provided useful information that can help in the design of systems for handling and processing of sweet and Irish potato tubers.Item Effect of heat treatments on proximate composition of sweet potato tubers(Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Ege University, 2022) Oyefeso, B. O.; Udu, G. O.Sweet potato is an important member of root and tuber crops which serve as a carbohydrate source for large populace in many developing countries. Its tuber is subjected to various heat treatment processes in its conversion from the raw form into final products which can be readily consumed. This study investigated the effects of heat treatment methods on the proximate composition of processed sweet potato tubers. White- and yellow fleshed sweet potato tubers used for this study were sourced locally from Bodija market in Ibadan metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria. The tubers were subjected to three common heat treatment methods namely boiling, roasting and frying. Sweet potatoes from each of the heat treatments were subjected to proximate analysis. The results obtained shows that the heat treatment methods did not have any significant effect (p≤0.05) on the carbohydrate content of both varieties. Boiling, on the other hand, had significant effect (p<0.05) on the ash, fibre and fat contents while it had no significant effect (p<0.05) on the moisture and protein contents of both varieties. Roasting had no significant effect on the fat content although it had significant effect (p<0.05) on the ash, fibre, protein and moisture contents of both varieties. All the investigated heat treatment methods had significant effects (p<0.05) on the crude fibre and ash contents of both varieties. All the heat treatment methods effectively retained most of the nutrients in the sweet potato tubers within acceptable limits for human consumption. However, frying resulted in increased fat content which is often recommended to be avoided by the medical practitioners and dieticians to avoid the attendant health risks. Boiling is recommended when products of higher moisture and protein contents are desired.