Vol. 11, Special Issue 10 (2022)

Author(s):
Shweta S Walunj, AA Sawant, KG Dhande and SB Kalse

Abstract:
Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is an ancient spice derived from the rhizomes, belongs to the family Zingiberaceae. The methods of turmeric processing are viz., boiling, drying, polishing and grinding. Polishing of turmeric is a bigger problem for the turmeric producers. Rhizomes are generally polished to remove the outer dirty skins. In the traditional method, the polishing was carried out manually which is time consuming operation. To overcome this problem, a turmeric polisher for small scale processing was developed at C.A.E.T., Dapoli, during 2021-22. The paper presents the turmeric polishing machine. The phenomenon of abrasion used in polishing, which is caused by the friction between pointed structure of drum and turmeric. The performance of developed polishing machine checked at three different capacities (8, 10 and 12 kg) and three speeds (45, 60 and 90 rpm). At speed 60 rpm and 8 kg capacity the highest polishing percentage is obtained and it is 7.68%. The polishing capacity is high as compared to hand polishing, i.e., 30 kg per hour. Polishing machine is easy to operate and useful on farm polishing job. Hence machine polishing is recommended for turmeric processing.