Optimization of continuous pre-milling treater for pre-milling treatment of chickpea

Abstract

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a vital leguminous crop rich in protein, fiber, and essential nutrients. Efficient pre-milling treatment is crucial for enhancing milling outcomes, ensuring product quality, and reducing energy consumption. This research paper focuses on the optimization of a continuous premilling treater tailored specifically for chickpea processing. The study involves the design, experimentation, and analysis of treater parameters to achieve optimal moisture content and texture for improved milling efficiency. The findings showcase the treater's effectiveness in enhancing chickpea processing and its potential contribution to the food processing industry. Optimization was done to obtain higher dehulling yield and dhal yield while minimizing the dehulling loss using response surface methodology. The best condition was obtained for chickpea with 14% moisture content treated with the microwave power level of 80% for about 2 min to achieve a dehulling yield of 45.21% and a dhal yield of 67.53%, dehulling loss of 6.96%.