Design, construction and performance evaluation of a Cassava storage structure

Abstract

A cassava storage structure with two layers (cold storage and moist saw dust storage media) was designed, constructed and tested. The effect of duration of storage and the storage media on dry mater, moisture content and carbohydrate contents of cassava tubers when compared with traditional storage methods like underground pit and open platform were evaluated using proximate analysis. The cassava tubers were stored for five weeks and the experiment was repeated three times. Results showed that there was significant difference in the effect of duration of storage and storage media on percentage dry matter, moisture content and carbohydrate at (P ≤ 0.05) Underground pit and open platform which served as control had the highest % moisture content at the fifth week of storage. The increase in percentage moisture content from 64% to 94% and 97% favoured rapid microbial infestation and deterioration in the Underground pit and open platform respectively. Cold storage and moist saw dust media had the highest percentage of dry mater content (12.73 and 6.88% respectively) and carbohydrate content (47.9 and 40.2% respectively). Thus, the cassava stored in the cold storage and moist saw dust compartment were considered as very effective storage media for cassava tubers.

Keywords: Storage media, Cassava tubers, Dry matter, Moisture content, Carbohydrate content

Journal of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology, 10