A single-stroke 360°-arc length peeling mechanism for cinnamon processing

Abstract

Cinnamon processing is regarded as a traditional ground-seated low-tech industry since its inception. Over the years, it has hardly seen any progress as an industry compared to other contemporary agriculture-based industries due to the inherent product-specific reasons as well as the long-practised custom of producing quills as the output form. Further, the attraction of the young generation towards this industry is minimal due to the low quality of work-life and poor regard it has, as a profession. Thus, the aim of this paper is to introduce a mechanised solution to improve the cinnamon peeling process by reducing the requirement of skill for peeling. Initially, an analysis was conducted on peeling methods and mechanisation efforts using information collected from published literature and through site visits to cinnamon processing centres. Then, a novel mechanism was proposed to improve the cinnamon peeling operation. Finally, a prototype was constructed and tested. The proposed solution shows promising results for cinnamon peeling for output forms other than quills. It is expected that both the traditional and value-added cinnamon product processing sector would benefit from the proposed solution.