Abstracts
Peeling stage is to be considered as one of the important processing stages of pumpkin. Low efficiency of semi-manual current peeling causes high losses. Uneven surface of pumpkin requires removal of thick layer of flesh to peel off grooves in concave areas and leads to high losses. In this paper the results of experimental investigation of an improved abrasive peeling method of pumpkin are discussed. The performance of peeling process was evaluated by using Taguchi method for design of experiments and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Angular velocities of vegetable and peeler head, contact angle, and overlapped distance between a peeler unit and a pumpkin were considered as independent variables. Peeling losses and peeling efficiency in concave and convex areas were evaluated as dependent variables. The results showed close values of efficiency of peeling in concave and convex areas. Higher level of overlaps and lower levels of other independent variables resulted in high peeling efficiency and low amount of peel losses.