Development and Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Heat Source Plantain Roaster

Abstract

The increasing demand for roasted plantain has brought about recent interest to upgrade the local method of roasting to be more user-friendly, hygienic and versatile. The objective of this work was therefore to design, fabricate and evaluate a low cost and affordable multi-heat source plantain roaster and to determine the effects of different heat sources namely charcoal, gas and electricity on the quality in terms of the proximate and micronutrients composition of the roasted plantain. Heat supplied to each compartment and medium of transfer was determined. The roasted products from different heat sources were evaluated for moisture, crude protein, ash, crude fat, crude fibre and total carbohydrate contents of the samples. Potassium, magnesium and vitamin B6 were also determined. The results show that the capacity of the machine ranged from 3.03 kg/h – 4.55 kg/h while the efficiency of the machine was determined to be 96.32%. Moisture content of the plantain reduced from 58.27-39.59% while ash, fibre, carbohydrate, fat, protein, potassium, magnesium and vitamin B6 increased from 5.89-8.30%, 2.83-3.43%, 23.80-43.02%, 2.16-4.68%, 6.90-8.35%, 240.70-312.10 mg/100 g, 111.35-120.39 mg/100 g and 0.21-0.27 mg/100 g respectively under the different heat conditions. Roasted plantain from different heat sources showed 5% level of significance in the proximate and micronutrient composition but the product from charcoal heat source was found to be most acceptable.

Keywords

• machine design
• plantain
• moisture content
• micronutrient analysis
• heat source
• roasting