Potential Study of Existing Methods of Dragon Fruit Pulp Extraction

The present study investigates the performance of two existing manual methods Hand-Peeling and Scooping for pulp extraction from dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.), aiming to identify their limitations and establish the need for a mechanized solution. The research was conducted at the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, D. Y. Patil Agriculture and Technical University, Talsande, Kolhapur. Key performance parameters evaluated include time required for peeling, number of fruits peeled per hour, pulp extraction capacity (PEC), and pulp extraction efficiency (PEE). Experimental trials were performed on fruits harvested at 0, 2, and 4 days post-harvest to study the effect of storage on processing efficiency. Results revealed that the Hand-Peeling Method was significantly more efficient, requiring an average of 48.37 seconds per fruit and achieving 74.69 fruits/hour with a pulp extraction efficiency of 95.21%. In contrast, the Scooping Method required 107.31 seconds per fruit, processed only 33.61 fruits/hour, and had a lower pulp extraction efficiency of 90.32%. Storage duration adversely affected performance in both methods, with reduced output and pulp yield observed after 4 days. Moreover, manual methods showed high labor demands, hygiene concerns, and inconsistent performance, rendering them unsuitable for commercial-scale operations. These findings clearly indicate the limitations of manual techniques and highlight the necessity of developing a power-operated dragon fruit pulp extraction machine. Such mechanization would enhance productivity, reduce labor dependency, and improve hygiene, enabling efficient large-scale dragon fruit processing.