Prospects of Decortication Efficiency Improvement through Environmental Control in Selected Indigenous Varieties of Melon Seeds

This study determined some properties of three indigenous melon seed varieties (Citrullus vulgaris, Citrullus lanatus and Lagenaria siceraria) as well as the best combination of treatment parameters that ensured optimal yield in relation to decortication. These were with a view to increasing the shelling efficiency of the melon seeds.  The physical properties were determined using standard procedures after subjecting them to a combination of treatments involving seven levels of soaking time (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 60 minutes) and four levels of freezing duration (30, 45, 60, and 75 minutes) after which the pretreated samples were then subjected to air-drying at ambient temperature. All three varieties of melon seeds exhibited maximum value of compressive stress at longitudinal orientation. C. vulgaris (Papa) at a combination of 10 minutes soaking time with 60 minutes freezing time was able to improve dehulling by 16.54% using the NCAM sheller. For C. lanatus variety the dehulling efficiency was increased by 28.15% when subjected to an optimum combination of 15 minutes soaking and 75 minutes freezing while L. siceraria variety was observed to have achieved 11.70% improvement in dehulling performance at an optimum combination of 60 minutes soaking and 45 minutes freezing time. The study concluded that pre-treatment of melon seeds could offer a better avenue for utilization of melon seeds in both domestic and industrial uses.