Fabrication of the mini multi-function pepper machine

¹ Mechanical Engineering Department, Politeknik Kuching Sarawak, Sarawak, Malaysia
² Electrical Engineering Department, Politeknik Kuching Sarawak, Sarawak, Malaysia
³ Mechanical Engineering Department, Politeknik Ungku Omar, Ipoh, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: lailatulhamidah@poliku.edu.my

Abstract

Pepper is one of the most significant agricultural products in Sarawak, Malaysia currently in the fifth largest pepper producer in the world after Vietnam, India, Brazil and Indonesia. Black pepper and white pepper both come from the same plant, but they are prepared differently. Black pepper is made by cooking dried unripe fruit, meanwhile white pepper is made by cooking and drying the ripe seeds. The production contributes to the aspects of economy and plantation rate of the state. However, the process of pepper through manual work is time consuming and a tough process which requires commitment and hard labor from the farmers. Therefore, the objective of this research is to fabricate the Mini Multi-Function Pepper Machine for small or medium enterprise by reducing the time of drying process. This fabrication machine consists of all the procedures involved in the production of white pepper, which are soaking, heating, drying and grinding process. Through the operation observed, this machine was able to undergo production in 208 to 300 minutes for 300g of white pepper, in comparison to the traditional way that needs approximately 1 to 4 weeks to undergo one production batch of white pepper.