Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences: Research Areas

Article Title: Benefit Cost Analysis of Introducing Palm Nut-Pulp Separating Machine in the Mechanized Small Scale Palm Fruit Processing
by Nwankwojike B. Nduka, Odukwe A. Okay, and Agunwamba C. Jonah

Abstract:
This paper assessed the benefits of introducing a palm nut-pulp separating machine in the small scale palm fruit processing. The parameters evaluated and compared between the new semi-mechanized palm fruit processing method with the nut-pulp separation step and the existing semi-mechanized method include the FFA content of palm oil extracted, processing time, cost of production and revenue/profit yield. The results showed no significant difference (at @ = 0.05) in the FFA contents of palm oils extracted from the same variety and quality of fruit in the two methods. Also the time and cost of processing 900kg of palm fruits were reduced from 227.40 seconds to 170.40 seconds and from N6750.00 ($42.19) to N5250.00 ($32.81) with the introduction of the palm nut-pulp separating machine. In addition, results further revealed that the new mechanized method with palm nut-pulp separation step yielded average revenues of N23.53 ($0.15) and N37.53 ($0.24) per unit mass of dura and tenera fruits processed respectively the existing technique yielded N16.74 ($0.11) and N27.78 ($0.17) respectively. The summary of the costs and revenue involved showed that the semi-mechanized method with nut-pulp separation step yielded a profit of N7611.00 ($47.57) and N9807.00 ($61.30) over the existing method when of an optimal throughput 900kg dura and tenera fruits were processed respectively.

Keywords: palm fruit, palm nut, palm oil, semi-mechanized, costs, revenue, profit

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