In the banana chips industry, the peeling of green bananas is a laborious process due to its hard skin and mucilaginous nature. A skilled worker is needed to remove the skin of the green banana without damaging its pulp. The banana chips shape can be less attractive if the pulp is damaged during peeling. In addition, the sap of the banana, as well as its irregular shape, makes the peeling process slower and complicated. BANALOP is designed as a tool to expedite the peeling process of green banana without damaging the pulp, more hygienic, easy to clean, portable, and saves time and labor.

 

The present invention of BANALOP relates to green banana peeler used to peel the Nipah banana skin (Musa acuminate balbisiana), which consists of three to five planes of flat peel surface for removal purpose. The invention applies as an alternative method to the manual peeling process used by banana chips industries where they are implementing a conventional way of peeling the green banana using a kitchen knife. The drawback of using the manual peeling method is that it required a knife handling skill to prevent pulp damage as well as time consuming and unsafe. BANALOP is a tool that is safe to use, and it does not damage the pulp during the peeling process. It is designed to follow the curvy shape of the banana, which in turn, ease the process of peeling. The peeler is tested to increase the peeling rate by 60% with less than 1.9% peel loss.

 

Advantages

The product is suitable and safe to process the banana and used by the worker. Using a kitchen knife created problems for the workers and banana as there are no safety features. The design was made in consideration of safety. Minimal pulp loss was achieved at a staggering 1.9%.

The product is cost-effective compared to using machines.

The design is easy to use and can reduce the time taken to peel the banana as the dimension and shape of the device are properly designed to suit the banana shape and texture.

The tool provides a more hygienic process. It is also portable, lightweight, and easy to clean.

 

 

Inventor
Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Rosnah Shamsudin
Faulty of Engineering

rosnahs@upm.edu.my

 

To commercialized this technology, contact us at

Putra Science Park
Email    : promosi@upm.edu.my

 

Date of Input: 27/10/2020 | Updated: 13/11/2020 | asrizam