Amla seed remover

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 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.

Specification:

TNAU Model - Made up of stainless steel

Base platform 3 mm thickness  and size is 220mm x 160mm

Main post is 35 mm diameter with 2 mm thickness and height 250 mm

Maximum amla size is 40mm diameter approximately.

Total weight is 2.8 Kg.

Removes seed from about 17 kg of amla per hour