Grassroot Innovations

Polanga (Calophyllum inophyllum L.) is a tropical evergreen tree, the seeds of which are a rich source of tamanu oil used for skin, hair, acne and other skin-related skin problems. Tamanu oil extraction is a tedious process involving various conventional methods such as manual plucking, repeated drying, decorticating and breaking the seeds. Rajesh realized manual processing is not financially viable due to low productivity, where one labourer could process only 25 kg of seed in 6 hours. While searching for a solution, the idea of a polanga decorticating machine struck his mind when he observed the rollers’ motion in a sugarcane juicer. The decorticator is an electric motor (1 hp, single phase) operated machine designed specifically to remove the kernel from the hard shell of the polanga fruit by breaking them in between its rollers. The machine was tested at the State Level Farm Machinery Training & Testing Centre (SLFMTTC), Odisha, where it was found to be capable of processing 300 kg of polanga fruits per hour. The decorticating efficiency was observed to be 98%.