Yield of Soya Paste (Okara) Influenced by Some Mechanical Parameters of an Automated Grain Drinks Production Machine

The effect of mechanical parameters of an automated grain drinks processing machine on yield of paste (okara) was investigated in this study. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to develop polynomial regression model and investigate the effect of blending blade, basket orientation and speed of rotation on yield of paste in the process of extracting soymilk from soybean. A three factors-five levels central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was used in the study. The result of the experiment revealed that blade type and speed of rotation have significant (p≤0.05) effect on yield of the paste while basket orientation has insignificant (p≤0.05) effect. It was observed that the experimental data fitted better with coefficient of determination R value of 0.9828, coefficient of correlation R-Squared value of 0.9658. The Predicted R-Squared of 0.940884 was in reasonable agreement with the Adjusted R-Squared of 0.935095. The value of adequate Precision of 19.38 also showed that the model equation can be used to navigate within the experimental range. Numerical optimization carried out with the goal of maximizing the yield of paste revealed optimum values of 5-blade assembly, basket orientation of 30° and speed of 1000rpm for consistency of 7.88 with a desirability of 0.928. The blade type and the speed of rotation were the most influential variables affecting the yield of paste. The result of this study provided standard input machine variables capable of yielding paste (okara) at various operating condition to meet the consumer’s desire.

Keywords:Blade type; Basket orientation; Mechanical; Speed; Optimization; Paste