Comparative Study of Melon (Colocynths Ecirrhosus) Depodding Techniques for Effective Post-Harvest Processing

Abstract

In this study, manual (crude method), mechanical (using the
fabricated machine), and traditional depodding techniques were
employed in the assessment of melon (Colocynthis Ecirrhosus)
post-harvest processing. From the experimental test conducted on
fifteen (15) fresh melon pod, an average mass of 0.8588kg and an
average diameter of 126.558mm was recorded. At the end of the
experiment, an average cutting force of 587.13N was required to
break-open a fresh melon pod. Using the crude processing, a
mean value of 762.252g was obtained for depodded seeds,
152.569g for undepodded seeds, 55.7465g damaged seeds, and
202.16905g for immature seeds. For mechanical processing, a
mean value of 947.008g was obtained for depodded seeds,
56.3409g undepodded seeds, 32.1868g for damaged seeds and
156.603g for immature seeds while the mass of depodded seeds
with traditional processing had a mean value of 1159.4435g
compared to the mass of immature seeds with a mean value of
184.7556g. On the other hand, the post-harvesting took a mean
time of 565.45s to process the melon using the crude method,
118.29s to achieve the tasks mechanically, and 181.2s to achieve
the tasks using traditional processing (excluding fermentation
period of 6-7 days). While the mechanical process was observed
to be expensive with little or no human labor, least processing
time and optimum output, the long storage life of seeds,
traditional processing was observed to be cheap, intense human
labor, extensive processing time including fermentation period,
the short storage life of seeds, and better output than the other two
processes. However, the crude processing was observed to be
cheap, intense human labor, extensive processing time, and the
least output of all the processes