Analysis of mechanical properties of agricultural products for development of a multipurpose vegetable cutting machine

The consumption of pre-treated vegetables (including fresh-cut vegetables) that are washed, peeled, and trimmed has been significantly increased because of their easy use for cooking. Vegetable cutting machines have been widely utilized for producing fresh-cut vegetables or agricultural products of different sizes; however, the design standard is not established for specific types of agricultural products. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine mechanical properties (compressive and shear forces) of targeted agricultural products (radish, carrot, squash, cucumber, shiitake mushroom, and sweet potato) for developing a multipurpose vegetable cutting machine. According to ASAE standard (s368.3), compressive and shear forces of targeted agricultural products were measured by using a custom built UTM (universal testing machine). Shape type of samples and speed ranges (5 - 15 mm/min) of loading rate on bioyield and shear points varied depending on the targeted agricultural product. The range of averaged bioyield points of targeted agricultural products were between 7.89 and 146.98 N. On the other hand, their averaged shear points ranged from 22.50 to 53.47 N. Results clearly showed that the bioyield and shear points of targeted agricultural products were thoroughly affected by their components. As measuring compressive and shear forces of a variety of agricultural products, it will be feasible to calculate blade cutting force for designing multipurpose vegetable cutting machine.