Cutting resistance assessment for three varieties of cassava roots
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Date
2023-11-27
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Publisher
Journal of the Ghana Institution of Engineering
Abstract
In this study, a model has been developed to assess the peel and root resistance to cutting. The evaluation was done with knife thicknesses of 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm and 2.0 mm using Duade kpakpa, Dudze and Sika bankye cassava varieties as experimental samples for three postharvest delays. The knife penetrated the tuber at 50 mm, 100 mm and 150 mm away from the proximal end. An average peel thickness obtained was in the range of 1.81 mm – 3.01 mm. The average diameters recorded ranged from 52.52 mm to 60.40 mm. The cutting resistance assessed for the Duade kpakpa, Sika bankye and Dudze cassava peels were 44.85 N, 50.01 N and 53.53 N, respectively with no significant differences (p < 0.05). The penetration resistance of the tuber decreased with increasing postharvest delay and increased with increasing knife thickness. The effect of the treatments on the response variables evaluated by factorial analysis showed that significant differences generally decrease with increasing interaction. Comparing the results, cutting resistances of 229.02 N, 223.09 N and 204.43 N in maximum were obtained for the Dudze, Sika bankye and Duade kpakpa cassava roots, respectively. The quantitative assessment by the PLSR model under the knife thicknesses (R2 = 0.9689; RMSE = 2.1020) was significantly better than the PLSR model under postharvest delay (R2 = 0.7845; RMSE = 4.0183). The technique employed in assessing the cutting resistance emphasized the cultivar differences and provided a measuring sequence and outstanding quantitative analysis.