Automated Combined Mechanical Demucilager-Fermenter-Dryer

To further reduce the amount of hard work and operating time-cost of mucilage extracting, fermentation, and drying, one alternative solution is to combine the three operations handled by the proposed machine/equipment/facility. The project aims to design, develop and optimize the operating conditions of the automated combined mechanical demucilager-fermenter-dryer for cacao. This proposed machine continually processes the fresh bean to produce dried fermented beans and incorporates the automation controls with built-in sensors in the system. Thus, this project will address the lack of cacao postharvest knowledge and appropriate equipment/facility for the cacao postharvest process. It also addresses the reduction of the amount of heavy labor and dependence on suitable weather conditions. Furthermore, the development will be made to improve the effectiveness/efficiency of existing facilities and increase the capacity and quality of the production.