Resource-saving method of extracting cucumber and melon seeds

Abstract The production of vegetable and melon crops is one of the most labour-intensive branches of agricultural production. Production volumes depend not only on growing conditions, but also on the quality of seed material. A resource-saving method of extracting cucumber and melon seeds and a separator that allows its implementation are presented. The design feature of the separator is a combination of vibration and inertial modes. The use of a separator, which has a combination of the mentioned modes in the technological process, allows to significantly improve the quality of separation of seeds from the peel and pulp. Thus, at the next stage, when washing the seeds, it is possible to reduce the amount of water, using the technology of a complete closed cycle of cleaning for reuse. The scheme of the technological process of cucumber and melon seed separation, which is used to implement a resource-saving method, is presented. The main factors and optimization criteria were determined, according to which the quality assessment of the technological process of cucumber and melon seeds separation was carried out using the proposed constructive solution. The ranges of the optimal combination of independent factors are determined. Using a resource-saving method of extracting cucumber and melon seeds allows to significantly reduce water consumption when washing seeds and achieve an improvement in the quality of the technological process.