ABSTRACT

The development of a manual operated snack extruder is presented. The machine was designed based on the high shear single screw extrusion systems, with continuous screw flight, which has three major zones: feeding zone, compression zone, and melting zone. The machine was evaluated at moisture content between 23.2% and 5 1.8%. The average moisture content at which the extruder performed at its optimum is 34%. The summary of the result showed that average throughput capacity of the extruder for manual operation is 12.04Kg/hr. The Machine efficiency rose from 49.6% for dough of weight 1068.9g to 85.6% for dough of weight 686.9g at 30 — 60rpm, while the average machine efficiency is 71.1%. The results suggested that the performance of the machine is dependent on the speed of the auger, size of the die and the moisture content of dough. The higher the moisture contents the more the leftover of dough on the wall of the barrel of the machine due to the sticky nature of dough. The cost of procurement (N37,011) is affordable to both individual and local snacks producers.