Performance Evaluation of Manually-Operated Gmelina Fruit Mechanical Depulping Machine

Gmelina tree has been used in revegetation program of the government and for production and utilization of quality wood, structural lumber, plywood, agricultural implements, furniture and even artificial limbs. The fastest way to grow seedlings is through the seeds that can be found in its fruits done by trampling with feet or setting the fruits on the concrete road, run over by vehicle tires. The purpose of these research was to evaluate the performance of the developed utility model for gmelina depulping for community utilization to maximize seeds retrieval, reduce time wastage and provide safety to children of farmers commonly assigned to gather and retrieve seeds in the roadside. Gmelina depulper with Utility Model IPOPhil registration no. 2-2016000797 was fabricated and utilized in the study. Fresh Gmelina fruits, soaked fruits for one (1), two (2), and three (3) days in water were used as materials in the evaluation of the depulping machine. Test trials using 20 fruits/trial and average of 25 seconds test duration per trial revealed that the depulping machine input capacity was 43-50 fruits/minute and recovery rate of 87%. There was no significant difference on depulping capacity and recovery rate with fresh fruit and soaking it for 3 days before depulping. The production cost of one unit was Php. 9,275.00 which could be recovered using 1,855 seedlings sold at Php 5.00 each. It was recommended to depulped gmelina fruits without soaking, fabrication of unit with bigger hopper intended for large gmelina fruits size to increase recovery rate and reduce the percentage of damaged seeds.