Litchi fruits are perishable and remain available for about 30 days in a year. Ripe fruits can be stored only for 15 days with stem and peel under ambient conditions and upto 6 weeks under refrigerated conditions. Therefore the fruit has to be processed to get the litchi products throughout the year. Removal of peel is the first unit operation that has to be done for further processing. So, a machine for peeling litchi was developed. The machine consists of two stainless steel rollers rotating at differential speed towards each other. Stainless steel spikes are placed on one roller where as the other roller has knurled surface. Graded litchi fruits are fed between the rollers. Spikes pierce the peel of fruit and due to circular motion of the fruit, spikes cut the peel. The knurling of the other roller restricts the movement of the fruit due to friction. Shear developed by differential speed, the peel is separated from the fruit, which passes through the rollers and goes down whereas peeled fruit in conveyed ahead. A moving belt provided over the rollers produces sufficient compression in this process to generate friction and shear. After removal of peel, the friction force between roller and pulp is reduced and moving belt guides the peeled fruit towards outlet. The litchi peeler can be operated manually or by using electric motor. The machine is suitable for small as well as large entrepreneurs and easy to operate. Peeling can be done economically using this machine.
