Investigating the factors affecting the potato peeling machine, using a combination of mechanical and chemical methods

Potato )Solanum tuberosum (is one of the strategic products which is cultivated in most of the regions in Iran. Peeling is one of the primary processes of this product and plays an important role in other processing steps. In this research, a combination of mechanical and chemical potato peelers was designed and manufactured. The peeler consists of a chasse, a motor, a power transfer system, and a drum equipped with three types of blades. Various experiments were carried out to determine the amount of losses and performance evaluation. The experiment was performed at three levels of blade type (knife, brush and carborundum type), four levels of feed rate (1, 2, 3 and 4 kg) and four levels of concentration of the chemical solution (0, 1, 2 and 3%, w/w). The experiment was factorial based on a completely randomized design with three replications. The results of the experiments showed that the effects of blade type, feed rate, and concentration of the chemical solution on the amount of losses and performance evaluation were significant (p>0.01). Maximum rate of peeling was achieved by applying the brush-type blade with a 1 kg feed rate and the 3% concentration of the chemical solution. The results showed that in all three types of blades and at each feed rate, the percentage of peeling increases with the increase in the concentration of sodium hydroxide chemical solution. Also, it was found that the combined chemical and mechanical peeling increases peeling, reduce the peeling losses, and improves the performance of the device.