High Quality Cassava Flour
in Nigeria.
This technique is suitable for preparing cassava flour from both sweet and bitter varieties.
Mini-chippers were also tried in place of the mechanical grater but were found to be unsuitable for bitter varieties because the concentration of cyanogenic glucosides was not reduced sufficiently during processing.
Fufu flour
High quality cassava flour
Tapioca
Lafun
Kpokpogari
Glucose syrup
Glue
Ethanol
Composite bread
Livestock feed industry
Livestock feed products
Starch in paper, etc.
Starch in food
Starch production
Equipment required
- Grater
- Press
- Dryer
- Pin mill
- Stitching machine
Under optimal conditions (dry sunny weather for sun drying), the IITA technique enables small-scale primary processors to produce high quality unfermented cassava flour that meets the specifications of industrial users within one day.
Drying has been identified as the major tool for expanding processing of cassava into high quality cassava flour.
Various options have been considered so far in the cassava project at IITA.
Natural drying
Local processors expose cassava mash on a polythene sheet directly
to the sun. This is referred to as “sun drying”.
The project observed that drying at rural or domestic levels
cannot be done artificially because
of the high capital investment in equipment and energy required and
hence, natural sun drying is done.
Sun drying is beset by several inherent drawbacks, such as susceptibility to damage due to inclement weather, slow drying rates, and contamination. Because of these limitations and the high cost and low utilization of more efficient traditional dryers, the adoption of a modified sun drying process, solar drying, has been considered for drying HQCF in rural areas.
Artificial drying
If a controllable source of energy is used for drying operations, the
process is referred to as artificial or mechanical drying. There is
a further classification in which the air used for drying is heated,
either by solar means or controlled means such as electricity, renewable
fuels, or fossil fuels. These methods are referred to as hybrid drying.
Rotary dryer
IITA is building up a coalition of local fabricators to mass produce
an already tested locally fabricated rotary dryer for use by the rural
processors of high quality cassava flour. The dryer could be fired
by charcoal or gas and rotated by a diesel engine. The dryer consists
of an insulated drying chamber (drum-like). The dryer is cost effective
and user friendly.
Flash dryer
IITA modified the design and fabrication of a locally fabricated flash
dryer with Peak Products, Abeokuta, Nigeria. The flash dryer (3t/day
capacity) is well insulated with the product contact surface made of
stainless steel and a semiautomated feeder. It could be operated with
combined kerosene/spent oil. The dryer is user friendly and will encourage
greater cassava flour production.
