Development of computerized Alphonso mango weight grader.
Badhe V. T., Pratap Singh, Power A. G., Predeep Lele, Dillip Apte, Bhatt Y. C.
Author Affiliation: Agril. Engineering, Dr. B.S. Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, India.
Orissa Journal of Horticulture 35 : 61-69
Abstract : Alphonso is the choicest variety of mango predominantly grown in Konkan region of Maharashtra. Alphonso accounts largest share in export of mangoes from India. Grading is pre-requisite for exporting the mangoes. Presently, Alphonso mangoes are graded manually which is uneconomical and time consuming method. The efforts were therefore made to developed a computerized weight grading machine suitable for grading Alphonso mangoes in five grades viz. Grade I - >326 g, Grade II-276-325 g, Grade III-225-275 g, Grade IV-176-224 g and Grade V - 175 g, respectively. The mangoes are conveyed through loader cum elevator in single line and individual fruits are dropped in food grade plastic treys. The treys are fitted on endless chain conveyor which consists of two lanes. Mild steel frame consists of electronic weighing diaphragm, timer sensor switch assembles, grading compartments with rubber cushioning, computerized weighing and grading control panels with suitable brain setting facilities. Suitable transmission systems for elevator and conveyor mechanism. The exhaustive trails of grader were conducted to evaluate the grading performance with four different brain settings. The computer brain setting - IV having settings of G-1 (540-491 g), G-II (490-451 g), G-III (450-401 g) and G-IV (400-350 g) for respective actual grades have shown better performance of grading the mangoes in respective grades. Average 1769 kg fruits were graded in final trails, from which it was observed that the highest percentage of fruits were graded in Grade - III (40.63%) followed by G-IV (23.30%), G-II (20.97%), G-V (11.63%) and minimum in G-1 (3.33%), respectively. The highest grading deviation percentage was observed in G-V (4.76%) followed by G-I (4.16%), G-IV (3.62%), G-II (3.44%) and lowest deviation was observed in G-III (1.98%) respectively. The overall fruit deviation was 3.07 per cent only. The machine with computer brain setting - IV resulted in grading 4072 fruits per hour, which has recorded the highest grading capacity of 998 kg/hr per lane at optimum conveyor speed of 12.73 m/min. The grading efficiency was recorded to be 97 per cent at the setting IV. The over all performance of grader was excellent.