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Gari is a popular staple food in Nigeria. It is obtained from the dry frying of dewatered cassava pulp. Cassava is a plant which originated from South America but is now grown in most of the African countries. The Nigerian variety grows to a height of 0.6 to 2m. The root is the most useful part of the plant. It is about 35cm in length with a diamet...
Citations
... Cassava is a plant that originated in South America but is now grown in most African countries [2]. Small-scale Gari processing methods in Ghana are primarily traditional, leading to a limited range of finished products from cassava [3]. Old and inefficient local gari pressing methods are time-consuming (taking up to 4 days or more), less hygienic, and result in poor/low product yields. ...
... Old and inefficient local gari pressing methods are time-consuming (taking up to 4 days or more), less hygienic, and result in poor/low product yields. Existing methods need to ensure product quality consistency or scale economies [3]. ...
... An example is the design and fabrication of an electric motor driven press (cassava dewatering machine) by O.P. Akinmolayan et., which uses an electric motor and a screw press where cassava mash is fed into a hopper, and the screw press applies pressure to the mash, forcing the water out through the perforations on the press. The narrow range of processed products and poor processing technologies could also affect the commercialization of the crop in Africa [3]. ...
Gari is a popular type of food in Africa obtained from the dry frying of dewatered cassava pulp. Unfortunately, small scale Gari producers in Africa are hampered by adoption of inefficient and inappropriate pressing methods. This delays Gari production and results in low quality products. The purpose of this study is to design, fabricate, and test a torsional thread-based cassava pulp mechanical dewatering screw press which will provide a cheaper way of pressing cassava compared to the modern methods which are too expensive for the ordinary farmer due to the complexities involved in their processes and the components used in manufacturing them. The aim is to make a more hygienic system by enclosing the cassava pulp in a confined cylindrical space and providing a way of trapping the liquid emanating from the compressed cassava pulp during pressing. The screw will make it easy to drive and press the cassava pulp. The research also gives details of the manufacturing processes, tools, materials, that will be used if the product is fabricated. Cassava was not utilized in the testing process, rather, a wet napkin to test the pressing mechanism by reducing its moisture content. It was found that the machine could dewater 2 kg wet a napkin with 70 % to 15 % moisture in about 3 minutes. The maximum stress reported on the screw shaft handle was 2.773 ×10 7 N/m 2 which was less than the yield strength of the material used for the simulation.
