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A young-coconut-fruit-opening machine

Article in Biosystems Engineering October 2007

DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2007.06.008

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 ARTICLE IN PRESS
BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING 98 (2007) 185 191

Available at www.sciencedirect.com

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/issn/15375110

Research Paper: PHPostharvest Technology

A young-coconut-fruit-opening machine

Bundit Jarimopasa,, Pramote Kusonb

a
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at Kamphaengsaen Kasetsart University, Kamphaengsaen,
Nakohn Pathom, 73140, Thailand
b
Department of Agricultural Engineering, King Mongkuts Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand

art i cle info The purpose of this research was to design, construct, and evaluate a prototype machine
for opening young coconut fruit. The design concept was that a trimmed coconut could be
Article history: opened by causing a small sharp knife to gradually move and shear off a circular section of
Received 28 February 2007 the husk and shell at the top of the rotating fruit. The prototype consisted of a fruit holder,
Received in revised form a height control mechanism, a knife and its feed controller, and a power transmission
8 June 2007 system. In operation, the small stainless-steel knife slowly penetrates through the husk
Accepted 15 June 2007 and shell of the turning fruit in a direction approximately perpendicular to its surface. The
Available online 16 August 2007 rotation of the fruit causes the husk and shell to be cut by the sharp edge of the knife,
which results in the formation of a circular opening at the top of the fruit. In this study, the
key design parameters and their operation settings were determined as follows: the angle
between the knife and the rotating plane (horizontal) was 501; the angle between the knife
cutting edge and the tangential line to the circular opening was 501; the knife feeding speed
was 50 mm/min; and the fruit rotation speed was 80 rpm.
Based on these design parameters, a commercial prototype was manufactured and
tested. The prototype had the capacity to open an item of fruit at an average time of 30 s. A
58-mm-diameter opening was cut and a mean 0.2% of the juice was spilled, while the juice
that remained contained 0.2 g of fine pieces of shell and husk. The mechanically opened
coconuts were well received by consumers.
& 2007 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Young coconut is highly nutritious and is one of the most
popular export fruit varieties in Thailand (Jarimopas &
Rattanadat, 2007). The fruit structurally comprises green
skin, exocarp of fibre, shell enclosing flesh and juice. The
Nam Hom (tr. fragrant water) cultivar is generally
preferred by consumers because of its taste and aroma.
Maturity and development of the young coconut fruit strongly
affects the fruit quality. The juice and the flesh of the
immature fruit are, respectively, sour and oversoft (jellylike)
while those of the overmature fruit are, respectively sweet
and hard. Both of these stages are not favoured by consumers.
The mature fruit is characterised by pleasantly sweet and
slightly sour juice and moderately soft flesh, which the
consumers love. There are several changes in physical
characteristics, mechanical strength, sound, and physiologi-
cal properties that change with the maturity of the young
coconut fruit and are sensed by competent fruit growers.
Such experience is personal and unavailable to the public.
Recently, Meeklangsaen et al. (2007) studied the physical and
physiological properties of young coconut fruit and found
that (a) rupture force of the shell, (b) the wet weight and the
dry weight of flesh, and (c) the total soluble solid of juice

Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: jarimopas@yahoo.com, fengbdj@ku.ac.th (B. Jarimopas), kkpramot@kmitl.ac.th (P. Kuson).
1537-5110/$ - see front matter & 2007 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2007.06.008
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
186 BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
linearly increased with days after fruit-setting time. The peak
resonance frequency of sound due to hammering the young
coconut fruit also varied proportionally with time.
Young coconuts sold to fresh markets are usually trimmed
of their outer husk so that the coconut looks attractive and
can be easily opened. The trimmed fruit has a conical-shaped
top, a slightly tapered cylindrical body, and a flat base, giving
it a pentagonal profile (Fig. 1). To ready the fruit for
consumption, the husk and shell of the fruit (Fig. 1) must be
cut open. Traditionally, large sharp knives are used to
manually chop open the husk and shell and to create a hole
of approximately 60 mm diameter at the top of the fruit. This
method is hazardous and requires a skilled operator. To avoid
the labour requirements and the risks inherent in this
method, there is high local demand for a machine that is
capable of opening young coconuts. The objective of this
research, therefore, was to develop a machine that could open
young coconuts at a comparable or higher level of efficiency
compared to the manual method.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Design and operation
The method that was developed causes the trimmed young
coconut fruit to be opened as a result of the insertion of a
sharp knife into the rotating fruit. The knife enters the top of
the fruit about 30 mm from the rotating axis and shears
through its husk and shell to create a 60 mm-diameter
circular opening. Required outcomes and principles of this
method were the following: (i) the product must be a trimmed
fruit with a pentagonal profile; (ii) the opening mechanism
must be based on shearing the rotating fruit with a stationary
knife; (iii) the construction must be sturdy, compact and
portable; (iv) the mechanism must be simple, strong, and
must resist vibration; (v) the mechanism must be capable of
being operated by one person. The prototype comprised a
fruit holder, a height control, a knife and a knife feed control,
and a power transmission system (Fig. 2).
The operating procedure was as follows. First, the trimmed
coconut was firmly mounted, crest upwards, between the
upper and lower holders. The opening machine was switched
A
H H = Fruit height
Point X
Fig 1 Schematic diagram of the trimmed young coconut fruit.
98 (2007) 185 191
on, and the fruit was turned. The knife, which was clamped in
a fixed enclosure, was pushed by a screw feeding mechanism
to penetrate slowly into the fruit. The knife sheared through
the husk, shell, and flesh layers until the fruit was completely
opened.
2.2. Test procedure
2.2.1. Determining physical properties of the trimmed young
coconut fruit
A sample of trimmed young coconut was selected at random
by competent growers according to two control factors: size
(small, medium, large) and maturity (immature, mature, over-
mature). Fifteen fruit specimens were used for each level of
the control factor. Two tests were conducted. Test I involved
measuring the shape and size of the young coconut fruit so as
to determine size variation. Test II measured the mechanical
properties of the fruit in relation to variation in maturity. In
the first test, the diameter, height, and surface slope angles
(Fig. 1) of the fruit were measured by a vernier caliper and a
stainless-steel protractor. The second test measured med-
ium-sized fruit. The husk at the shoulder of each fruit (point
X) was removed down to the shell. The fruit was then inserted
into a universal testing machine (UTM, Instron 5569) and its
shell was slowly compressed with a 4-mm-diameter plunger
at a loading speed of 25 mm/min (ASAE Standard, 1998) until
it ruptured. The rupture force was recorded. Finally, a
10 mm  10 mm  10 mm cube of the removed husk was dried
in an electric oven (ISOTEMP, USA) to determine its moisture
content according to the ASAE standard (1994).
2.2.2. Determining the optimal knife feed speed (KS) and fruit
rotation speed (FS)
The speed of agricultural and food processing machinery
often affects its performance (Jarimopas et al., 2007; Ratana-
pasakorn & Pornchalermwong, 2002; Zafar et al., 1997).
Therefore, it is essential to determine the best knife feed
speed and fruit rotating speed for optimal results. Accord-
ingly, the coconut-opening machine prototype was mounted
in the UTM so that the opening knife could be aligned to the
compression axis of the UTM crosshead and inclined to the
prototype vertical axis at a certain angle (Fig. 3). Compression
d = Diameter of Tycf shoulder
A = Surface slope angle of the shoulder
B = Surface slope angle of the fruit body
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
Knife enclosure
Knife
Height control
Fig 2 Schematic diagram of the trimmed young coconut fruit opening machine.
Fig 3 Experiment set-up determining the optimal knife
feed speed and fruit rotation speed.
was transferred through the plunger to the knife while
compressive force and knife speed were measured simulta-
neously. Experiments to open the coconut with the prototype
were conducted with a fruit of uniform size and maturity
with two control factors: fruit rotation speeds 20, 50, and
80 rpm, and knife feed speeds of 40, 50, and 60 mm/min. The
penetration force of the knife due to variation of the
control factors was recorded. Ten replications were made
for each combination of the control factors. Analysis of
variance and the Duncan Multiple Range Test were applied to
98 (2007) 185 191 187
Knife feed control
Upper holder
Lower holder
Power transmission
determine the influence of control factors upon the knife
force and to determine proper fruit rotation and knife feed
speeds.
2.2.3. Determining the proper knife angles
Fig. 4 shows the orientation of the opening knife. The knife
was set at two angles (y and a), which were important
parameters affecting the opening performance. y was the
angle between the knife plane and the fruit rotation plane
(normally horizontal and parallel to base) and a was the angle
between the knifes sharp edge and the tangential line to the
circular opening. During the testing procedure, y was set to
values of 401, 451, 501, and 601, while a was kept constant at
501. To determine the optimum of a, the knife angle was set to
values of 401, 501, and 601 while the optimum of y, already
determined, was kept constant. Ten matured fruit specimens
were allocated for each angle value. Each fruit was measured
for diameter, height, and weight, and was then opened.
Appropriate fruit rotation speed and knife feed speed as
determined by the previous test were used consistently
throughout the experiment. Performance parameters of the
opening machine, which include the time required to open
the fruit, the amount of spilled-off juice, and the amount of
fine pieces of shell and husk in the juice, were recorded and
analysed.
2.2.4. Performance test of the laboratory prototype opening
machine
Following the test procedures described in 2.2.2 and 2.2.3, the
appropriate operating conditions of FS, KS, y, and a were
determined. A further set of performance tests, together with
analysis of the effects of fruit maturity (immature, mature,
over-mature) on machine performance, were conducted.
Fifteen fruit specimens were tested for each level of maturity.
The performance test similar to procedure 2.2.3 was analysed.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
188 BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING 98 (2007) 185 191

Opening knife

50 
Fruit rotation plane,
nomally horizontal,
parallel to base

(a)

Fruit rotation

Opening line

Opening knife

Crest center


Radius
50
(b) Tangential line to circular opening

Fig 4 Opening knife orientation.

2.2.5. Performance test of the factory prototype

The factory prototype (Fig. 5) was constructed using the same
design and settings of the laboratory prototype and was
evaluated following the procedures described above. One
hundred and ninty four fruits of different sizes were tested at
continuous operation. The opened fruit samples were then
presented to general consumers for assessment.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Physical properties of the trimmed young coconut

fruit

Table 1 shows the shape and size characteristics of the

coconut samples that were tested. The average diameter and
height of the small, medium, and large fruit were, respec-
tively, 117.8 and 126.7 mm; 126.4 and 134.0 mm, and 138.7 and
139.5 mm. Mean values of angles A and B were 34.71 and 85.11,
respectively.
Table 2 presents the results of analysis of variance of
maturity upon mechanical properties of the same-sized fruit,
the husk moisture of which was significant at a significance
level of 5%. Maturity statistically influenced rupture force F.
The force increased from 110.8 N to 749.1 N as maturity
increased from immature to over-mature. In contrast,
the husk moisture content decreased from 88.9% (immature Fig 5 Factory prototype of the trimmed young coconut fruit
fruit) to 87.4% (mature fruit), and finally to 82.6% (over-mature opening machine.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING 98 (2007) 185 191 189

Table 1 Shape and size characteristics affected by size of the trimmed young coconut

Size Shape and size parameter

Diametera,b (mm) Heightb (mm) Angleb A (degrees) Angleb B (degrees)

Small 117.871.8a 126.774.4a 35.673.8a 85.073.4a

Medium 126.472.5b 134.075.5b 34.473.0a 85.672.5a
Large 138.774.9c 139.574.3c 34.173.7a 84.773.0a

a
Maximum diameter of the shoulder.
b
Average values followed by the same letter in a column imply insignificant difference at po0.05.

Table 2 Mechanical propertiesa of the trimmed young Table 3 Analysis of variancea of the knife feed speed
coconut as affected by maturity against the compressive force

Maturity Shell rupture force (N) Husk moisture (%) Knife feed speed (mm/min) Compressive force (N)

Immature 110.8735.4a 88.971.1a 40 105.2727.8a

Mature 224.0728.6b 87.471.8b 50 106.7728.5a
Overmature 749.17150.6c 82.6711.1c 60 148.6760.0b

a a
Average values followed by the same letter in a column imply Average values followed by the same letter in a column imply
insignificant difference at po0.05. insignificant difference at po0.05.

Table 4 Analysis of variancea of fruit rotation speed

fruit). This agrees with observation of growers that as the fruit against compressive force
matures, the fruit shell hardens and the husk dries.
Fruit rotation speed (rpm) Compressive force (N)
3.2. Optimal speeds for knife feed and fruit rotation 20 130.9734.3b
50 128.1759.6b
A good machine will be perceived by the operator as 80 103.0727.0a
convenient when the level of human effort required to
a
drive the opening knife is small. Table 3 exhibits the results of Average values followed by the same letter in a column imply
analyses of knife feed speed (KS) variance against compres- insignificant difference at po0.05.
sive force (P). It was found that KS significantly affected P at a
significance level of 5%. A KS of 50 mm/min was selected
Table 5 Effect of the knife angle (h) upon the fruit-
because the value for P was correspondingly low, while the opening machine performance
knife speed was not too slow.
Similar consideration was applied to the determination of
y Machine performancea
proper fruit rotation speed (FS). It was found that (Table 4) FS
(degree)
significantly influenced P at a significance level of 5%. The FS
Opening Spill-off Fine pieces of
of 80 rpm, which corresponded to the smallest P, was chosen time (s/ juice (%) shell and husk (g)
as the optimal fruit rotation speed. fruit)

40 20.372.4a 0.570.4c 0.1970.03a

3.3. Optimal knife angle 45 19.871.4a 0.270.1b 0.2570.02b
50 19.371.7a 0.370.3b 0.2570.05b
The optimal y should result in short opening time and small 60 21.5b72.1b 0.1a70.1a 0.29c70.04c
losses. Table 5 presents the result of analysis of variations in y
a
and Duncan Multiple Range tests against the opening- Average values followed by the same letter in a column imply
insignificant difference at po0.05.
machine performance. The angle y, at a significance level of
5%, affected all the performance parameters, namely opening
time, percentage of juice spilled, and fine sawdust residue in
the juice. An angle y of 501 was considered the optimum as it opening rim angle. However, this improvement was offset by
resulted in the shortest opening time of 19.3 s/fruit at a greater quantities of fine pieces of shell and husk that fell into
medium spill level of 0.3% and a medium fine sawdust the shell core. Table 6 shows that a angle significantly
residue level of 0.25 g. influenced only the quantity of juice spilled. Since there was
In contrast, increasing y from 401 to 601 caused a five-fold no significant difference between the values for opening
reduction in spilled juice because of the increase in the times and residue, the a angle of 501 was selected. This angle
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
190 BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING 98 (2007) 185 191

gave the quickest opening time of 19.9 s/fruit, a moderate spill
amount of 0.28%, and an average residue quantity of 0.24 g.
Spillage increased when a was reduced from 601 to 401
because the smaller a angle resulted in a longer duration of
contact between the shell and the cutting edge of the knife.
The longer contact time tended to cause the fruit lid to flip
over, resulting in higher spilling. In contrast, if a was too large,
the knife end was at risk of breaking when coming into
contact with the shells of over-mature fruits.
3.4. Performance of the laboratory prototype
Tests were conducted using the laboratory prototype at the
optimum fruit rotation speeds and knife angles as previously
described. Medium-sized fruits at different stages of maturity
were used in the experiment. Results (Table 7) show that
maturity significantly influenced machine performance,
especially the opening time and the quantity of juice that
was spilled. The prototype machine on average took 24.4 s to
open a trimmed immature fruit, 25.3 s to open a mature fruit,
and 34.3 s to open an over-mature young coconut. The
increase in rupture forces reflected the positive correlation
between shell strength and fruit maturity, as shown in Table
2. The increased opening time for stronger shells is due to the
higher mechanical resistance they offer to the opening knife.
Table 6 Effect of the knife angle (a) on the fruit-opening
machine performance
a Machine performancea
(degree)
Opening Spill-off Fine
time (s/ juice (%) pieces of
fruit) shell and
husk (g)
Juice spillage levels for immature, mature, and over-mature
fruit were recorded at 0.9%, 0.3%, and 0.2%, respectively.
There is usually more juice in immature fruits than in ripen
fruits and thus it is reasonable to expect higher spillage for
the younger fruit.
3.5. Performance of the factory prototype
The performance of the factory prototype was comparable to
that of the laboratory prototype, although slightly longer
opening times were recorded. The continuous operation test
indicated that the coconut-opening machine could achieve
complete opening of all the 194 fruit at an average time of
30 s/fruit. Manually inserting and extracting the fruit sample
from the machine and waiting for the knife to return to the
starting position accounted for 10 s of the average elapsed
time. The factorys experience of fabrication techniques
resulted in a reduction of the weight of the machine from
21 to 15.5 kg. All the opened samples were presented to
general consumers and were well accepted.
4. Conclusion
Testing of a laboratory prototype for a young-coconut-open-
ing machine resulted in the determination of optimal
operating conditions in terms of cutting knife speed, fruit
rotation speed, overall fruit opening speed, and knife angles.
Subsequent performance tests of the laboratory prototype
using the selected machine settings indicated that the
machine could open fruit at speeds ranging from 24 to 34 s/
fruit, with speeds decreasing relative to the maturity of the
fruit. A factory prototype, manufactured and operated
according to laboratory prototype specifications, took an
average time of 30 s/fruit to open young coconuts during
continuous operation. Good levels of opening efficiency and
consumer acceptance were achieved.

40 20.172.2a 0.3870.38b 0.2470.05a

50 19.971.8a 0.2870.26b 0.2470.05a
Acknowledgements
60 20.672.2a 0.2070.20a 0.2470.05a

a
The authors would like to acknowledge the Kasetsart
Average values followed by the same letter in a column imply
University Research and Development Institute and the
insignificant difference at po0.05.
Post-harvest Technology Graduate and Research Develop-
ment Project at the Chiang Mai University for sponsoring this
Table 7 Performance of the laboratory prototype with project.
respect to variation in fruit maturity

R E F E R E N C E S
Maturity of Machine performancea
young
coconut fruit Opening Spill-off Fine pieces of
time (s/ juice (%) shell and ASAE Standard (1994). Moisture measurement-forages. ASAE S
fruit) husk (g) 358.2 December 93, 471pp. American Society of Agricultural
Engineers, 2950 Niles Road, Michigan, USA
Immature 24.472.5a 0.970.71b 0.1770.04a ASAE Standard (1998). Compression test of food materials of
Mature 25.372.3a 0.370.13a 0.2370.04a convex shape. ASAE S368.3 March 95, pp 554559. American
Overmature 34.374.3b 0.270.08a 0.2770.04a Society of Agricultural Engineers, 2950 Niles Road, Michigan,
USA
a Jarimopas B; Rattanadat N (2007). Development of a young
Average values followed by the same letter in a column imply
coconut fruit trimming machine. Journal of Food Engineer-
insignificant difference at po0.05.
ing, 79, 752757
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
BIOSYSTEMS ENGINEERING
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