DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMPROVED PADDY PARBOILER FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SCALE PROCESSORS
Rice is a staple diet of more than half of the world’s population. It is an important food and can potentially become a major export commodity for Nigeria in the near future. Paddy parboiling is a crucial process done to reduce excessive rice breakage and loss of nutrients. Most small-scale rice processors in Nigeria, specifically in Kano clusters, depend on the traditional paddy parboiling method, which uses pots or open drums to cook the paddy using firewood on a tripod. This method produces poor-quality rice; it is not efficient and time-consuming. This research is aimed at developing an improved paddy parboiler for small/medium-scale rice processors and also to carry out the performance tests of the parboiler. The improved paddy parboiler consists mainly of a boiler, a stove, steam pipes, steam pipe support, and a parboiler tank. The results of the performance tests carried out show that the steaming period and temperature have a significant effect on the moisture uptake and head rice yield at 1% probability level. The mean moisture uptake and the head rice yield increase with increased steaming period and temperature, and their values are significantly different at 5% probability level. The mean paddy moisture uptake ranged from 7.34 to 12.57%, and the mean head rice yield ranged from 59.79 to 92.13%. It is recommended that detailed performance evaluation of the improved paddy parboiler be done to investigate the effects of other parboiling parameters on moisture uptake and milling quality of rice for both direct and portion-size filling of paddy grains into the parboiling tank and also optimize the performance process using RSM.
Authors : Shittu, S.K., Dangora, N.D., Attanda, M.L., Muhammad, A.I., Abubakar, M.S., Lawan, I., Falalu, R.J., Nasidi, N.M. and Mohammed, M.
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 10(2) Date Uploaded : 29th October 2024