14
UWI TODAY – SUNDAY 16 DECEMBER, 2018
70
th
ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE
RESEARCH
– ISSUE ARCHIVE JUNE 2011
The Chataigne
f r u i t
i s w e l l
known in parts
of the Caribbean,
notably Trinidad
and Guyana, as
a delicacy served
in a coconut curry
sauce at special
occasions, such
as weddings and
at Divali.
A close relative of the breadfruit (Artocarpus
altilis), the chataigne (Artocarpus camansi) contains
twice the protein, and its seeds are low in fat compared
with nuts such as the almond, brazil, and macadamia.
Known in the region as the bread nut or katahar
(Guyana) it is prized when ripened for the seeds, and
when mature, but not ripe, it is prepared in delicately
flavoured curries.
To do this, the thick, spiky skin must be removed,
and the flesh shredded apart by hand after the seeds
are painstakingly removed. Served with roti (paratha)
along with other vegetables, it is a popular dish at
weddings and other functions.
While the demand for curried chataigne has been
growing, the task of peeling and preparing the fruit is
so labour intensive that it makes it almost prohibitive.
A typical wedding might require 300 chataigne
fruits for a side dish, and this would take about 12
man-days for preparation, i.e. peeling, shredding and
then preparing the seeds before cooking. No wonder
it has remained such an occasional delicacy!
That might soon be a thing of the past.
Nishad Gopaulchan, a final year Mechanical
Engineering student at The UWI, has designed and
built a simple machine that can prepare 100 chataigne
fruits in an hour.
DEVELOPING THE MACHINE
Various methods for separating the seeds from
the fibrous inner core of the fruit were considered and
these included friction, brushing and impact, however
the one that showed the best potential was impact.
Initial trials with steel rods impacting on the inner
core of the fruit, left bruises or marks of injury on the
final product. Although this could be minimized and
managed, it showed up as brown to blackmarks on the
product when kept refrigerated for awhile.
TheChataigne Peeler
Student’s machine could put this delicacy on your table every week
B Y R O D N E Y H A R N A R I N E
Replacing the steel rod beaters with a steady
rubber one, minimized, if not eliminated, the problem
of impact injury on the finished product.
Placing the rotating and stationary rubber fingers
was a critical factor in the design, as the spacing must
be appropriate to allow the flow of the separated fiber
and seeds through the machine without clogging and
“sticking” the machine.
The machine is powered by a single phase 110
Volt motor; hence it can be plugged into any domestic
household electric supply.
The machine is ergonomically designed; the
hopper is at the top and can be easily reached by the
average adult while the lower chute allows enough
height to place a receptacle to collect the finished
product. There are no sharp edges or projecting
bolts that could create risks for injury to users of the
machine.
COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL
FOR THE MACHINE
The machine was on display at both the recently
concluded Sci-technofest, run by NIHERST and the
Open Day at the Faculty of Engineering; without
quoting a price for the machine, more than 100
persons have indicated an interest in having one of
these machines.
Among those who have expressed interest, caterers
were the largest group. At the Faculty of Engineering
at UWI, we see this as a wonderful opportunity
to expand the consumption of local cuisine, with
its attendant backward linkage with agriculture,
while simultaneously creating the opportunity to
commercialize our homegrownmechanical, machine-
building skills.
The project has a high potential for success both
locally and internationally.
Rodney Harnarine is a development engineer
at the Department of Mechanical and
Manufacturing Engineering, at The UWI, St.
Augustine. He supervised the construction of
Nishad Gopaulchan’s Chataigne Peeler.
“A typical wedding might require 300 chataigne fruits for a side dish, and this would take
about 12 man-days for preparation ...that might soon be a thing of the past.”
Nishad Gopaulchan
with the chataigne
peeler machine.
