Storage and preservation of fresh cassava roots using an evaporative cooling facility.

Abstract

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important carbohydrate food source for more than 800 million people around the world (FAO, 2007). Cassava is a highly perishable. root crop which is attributed to its high moisture content. The loss of the high moisture content through respiration and transpiration lead to rapid deterioration which begins. within the -next 24 hours after harvesting, this limits -Commercial production of cassava due to storage constrains (Pérez, 2012), The methods currently in use for storage and preservation of fresh cassava have a number of hindrances which limit their use at the marketing level. This therefore led to the design and construction of an evaporative cooler for the storage and preservation of fresh cassava. The purpose of this study was to design and construct an; evaporative cooler for the storage and preservation of fresh: cassava roots which the working fluids are water and air, no special refrigerants such as ammonia or CFCs are used that could be toxic, expensive to replace, contribute to ozone depletion or be subject to stringent licensing and environmental regulations. This was achieved through the following method; design of the various components, construction of' the prototype, evaluation of the shelf •stability of cassava roots, and carrying out' an economic evaluation for the project. At the end of this study, the evaporative facility was. constructed and the cooler-was -in position to ensure; extended shelf stability of fresh cassava roots due to temperature control and also ensure high relative humidity desirable for cassava storage.