| Abstract |
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Although Indonesia has the largest potential of sago palm (Metroxylon sagu) in the world, up to the present time sago starch production and utilization has been very low compared with its potential. This is because of farmers in this area still use traditional method to process sago starch which are inefficient and ineffective. The objective of this study was to develop sago starch extractor in order to improve its extraction performance with the focus on the effect of rotating speed of stirrer rotary blades and number of stationary blades. In the experiment, three levels of rotating speed i.e.100 rpm, 150 rpm and 200 rpm, and four levels of stationary blade numbers i.e. no blade, 4 blades, 8 blades, and 12 blades were examined. The extractor performance test was carried out by measuring extraction rate, starch percentage, starch yield, and starch left in sago pith waste (hampas). Results showed that the higher the rotating speed the higher the extraction rate, starch percentage, and starch yield. Meanwhile, the higher the rotating speed the lower the starch left in hampas. Likewise, the greater the number of stationary blade the higher the extraction rate, starch percentage, and starch yield while the starch left in hampas was lower. The highest extraction rate of 491 kg/hour, starch percentage of 20.54 %, and starch yield of 101 kg/hour and not at all starch left in hampas was resulted at the condition of 12 stationary blades and rotating speed of 200 rpm. Therefore, the best condition to achieve highest extraction performance was 12 stationary blades and rotating speed of 200 rpm. |
