ABSTRACT
A plantain slicing machine was designed and fabricated for timely and efficient plantain chips
slicing. Conventional plantain slicing methods are time consuming and inefficient for bulk
production, while many of the modern plantain cutters make use of rigid metal blades that are
prone to bluntness of their sharp edges as a result of wear. The present project therefore was
carried out to proffer a solution to the challenges found in conventional plantain slicing
methods and modern slicers.
A plantain slicing machine which uses a stainless string slicer was produced. The machine
comprises of a motor, a slider crank mechanism, pulley belt, slicing tray and presser. When a
plantain is put on the slicing bed, a mass load is manually released to press the plantain against
the cutting frame with strings. The cutting frame slide upwards and downwards in an inclined
plane. The sliding motion is initiated by an electric motor via a crank mechanism. The pressing
force of the presser and the motion of the string cause the string to exert a cutting pressure on
the plantain which is thus sliced along its circumference.
Test carried out on the machine and results obtained from the test showed that it had a
throughput capacity of 87kg/hr with an efficiency of 90%. It was also found that the machine
was more efficient in cutting unripe plantain and fairly ripe plantain than very ripe plantain.
The use of mechanized process of plantain slicing such as the motorized plantain slicer is an
improvement to conventional plantain slicing and is viable for use in bulk plantain processing
for chips.
