CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Historical Development

Pounding has been an integral part of majority of the African people particularly

Nigeria where virtually all the ethnic groups have one or more items to pound

before use (Olaoye & Oyewole, 2012). The ancient and traditional methods of

pounding is carried out with the use of the wooden mortar and pestle. The wooden

mortar has a concave base with a cup-like hole in it for housing the items to be

pounded, the pestle also, in a wooden long single or double edge smooth

cylindrical base (dumb bell shaped) used for the pounding.

The origin of yam pounding machines can be traced to the Herbert and Kenwood

mixing machines. In 1975, Herbert and Kenwood mixing machines were

introduced into the market for use, this however, gave rise to the conception and

development of the yam pounding machine (Gbasouzor & Mbunwe, 2015). The

Herbert and Kenwood mixers were not originally designed for yam but gradually

faded away due to its inefficiency in operation such as longer time in meshing

operation and overheating of the machine which had to be stopped intermittently

for cooling and the non-homogeneity in bond formation after meshing. Hence, the

above argument ascertains that both the Herbert and Kenwood mixers were not

originally designed for yam pounding, but potatoes meshing as their mode of
operation is similar. Also, these mixers have the following deficiencies on the

pounded yam.

 Hardness of the yam after pounding,

 Presence of much un-pounded yam seedlings and they are not compatible

enough

In 1980, some final year students of Obafemi Awolowo University took up the

challenge to research and developed a yam pounding machine having studied the

problems of the being accomplished with the machine but the problem of

overheating continues and even higher than those of Herbert and Kenwood mixer

irrespective of the number of vents introduced for cooling (Abolarin, 2018).

However, this machine gives a better quality product at a higher speed but the cost

of production or manufacturing was high hence its high cost of purchase. Also, a

particular species of yam was known to pound well with this machine that is the

water yam. Likewise the bulky nature of the machine makes its portability a

mirage. Also, improvement in the quantity and quality of yam pounded in less time

which was one of the major problems of the Herbert and Kenwood mixers (Olaleye

et al., 2020).
2.2 Agronomic Characteristics of Yam

The tuber shape and size can vary greatly due to genetic and environmental factors.

However, cultivated forms of yam generally produce tubers that are more or less

cylindrical in shape and 3-5kg in weight (Elemide et al., 2019). The yam tuber

grows from a corm-like structure located at the base of the vine. Occasionally this

corm remains attached to the tuber after harvest and sprouts will develop from it.

When the corm separates from the tuber sprouting occurs from the tuber near to the

point at which the corm was attached. A transverse section of a mature yam tuber

shows it to be composed of four concentric layers:

Corky periderm: The outer portion of the yam tuber, it is a thick layer of cork

cells, often cracked, but which provides an effective barrier against water loss and

invasion by pathogens.

Cortex: A layer located immediately beneath the cork, comprising thin-walled

cells with very little stored starch.

Meristematic layer: Elongated thin walled cells under the cortex, sprouts are

initiated from this layer.

Ground tissue: The central portion of the tuber, composed of thick-walled starchy

cells, with vascular bundles ramifying throughout the mass. Most yams are
essentially composed of water, starch, small quantities of protein and other minor

constituents.

2.3 Types of Yam Pounding

Pounded yam is a known and prestigious staple popular among the highly educated

and illiterate Nigerians. Yoruba call it Iyan, in Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Cross River

and some other states, pounded yam is a choice food when having traditional

ceremonies like marriage, naming, chieftaincy title awards, coronation of a new

king and buffets. There are two types of pounding namely;

 Manual pounding and

 Stirring and blending

2.3.1 Manual Pounding

Pounded yam is made from pounding yam repeatedly with a club like cooking

utensil pestle inside a bucket like cooking utensil (mortar). The yam is first peeled

then washed in clean water. It is then boiled till its soft and then placed in the

mortar.

The pestle is used to pound the boiled yam into a dough like staple that is high in

vitamins, filling and a true dining experience. Pounded yam is usually eaten with

egusi (melon), efo (vegetable) or whatever soup of choice comes to mind.

The stirring and blending method of preparing pounded yam is a less stressful way.

You can use a machine that boils the peeled yam (you can test whatever it is well

boiled by using a fork. When the yam is soft, it can now be moved to the next stage

(i.e. to the pounding or blending machine). The yam is placed inside the crushing

chamber of the machine and then powered by a prime mover (petrol engine) or

electric motor. The machine start pounding the yam until it is up to the desire

texture of the operator.

2.4 Recent Development

Jack et al., (2022) fabricated an automatic machine for yam pounding which uses

an electromechanical mechanism for its enhancement. The mechanical parts use

wood and mild steel whereas electrical parts use electronic components and a

microcontroller. The mechanical and electrical parts of this model were put

together to realize a mini model with 0.2m and 0.1m as the designed diameter and

height respectively. The designed model was able to be accomplished and

prototype demonstrated, the torque value of 0 to 0.2Nm gives zero (0Rev/Min) of

speed and zero (0W) of power. At torque values of 0.3 to 0.25 Nm gives a rise in
speed and power to the magnitude of 15 to 60 Rev/Min, with the corresponding

power of 0.47 to 1.57W respectively. This implies that the cooked yam is being

processed. When the constant torque values of 0.24Nm was recorded against 75 to

105 Rev/Min of speed, with the corresponding power values of 1.89 to 2.64 W, the

yam was completely processed.

Aghawegbehe & Olodu (2022) designed and constructed a wood-based modified

yam pounder machine. In this study, a yam pounder was produced from hardwood

obtained from Oak tree which is a locally sourced material with a view to

eliminating the tedious and laborious process of preparing pounded yam. The

hardwood log of 220 mm long was turned to a diameter of 240 mm using wood

lathe machine. Other components were machined to their appropriate sizes based

on designed specification before assembling. The designed yam pounder was used

to pound 1.034 kg of cooked white yam for three minutes; the same were carried

out with the existing yam pounder for three minutes under the same condition. The

results obtained from performance tests showed that there was no yam seed from

the designed yam pounder but there were few yam seeds in the existing yam

pounder.

Olaleye et al., (2020) developed an indigenous yam pounding machine developed

by the Department of Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering, Federal

College of Agriculture Akure, Nigeria. It operated with principle of horizontal

beater of mass 0.157 kg supplied force of 155 N at 1500 rpm, required for

optimum pounding of the fed cooked yam. The maximum load of yam per batch of

pounding is 11.9 kg. The machine has power rating of 1 hp while its capacity is

1.07 tons/hr. The testing of the machine revealed it as best operated at 1500 rpm to

achieve pounding efficiency of 97%.

Jimoh (2019) developed a mini yam boiling and pounding machine using locally

sourced materials for both domestic and commercial purposes. The major

components of the machine are pounding chamber, frame, electric motor, shaft

with crushing mechanism, heating element, and electrical compartment. Power

input, angular speed, torque, power output, machine efficiency, heat transfer, shaft

diameter and machine capacity were designed to be 1.54 kW, 146.00 rads-1, 7.88

Nm, 1.15 kW, 74.68%, 2.53 kW, 30 82 mm and 4.36 kgh-1, respectively. Four

samples (A, B, C, and D) of pounded yam were presented for sensory evaluation

and sample B was preferred using Hedonic scale. The results of the proximate

composition of boiled and pounded yam were not significantly different at 5%

level of probability. The machine was found to be economically viable and profit-

oriented.

Onuoha et al., (2019) designed and developed a yam pounder based on factor of

safety, hygiene, cost and availability of materials in the market. The performance
tests on the machine were replicated five times using cooked yam masses of 2, 2.5,

3, 3.5 and 4 kilograms respectively based on the following performance

parameters; Pounding efficiency (Ep), Percentage lump of yam remaining after

pounding (Lp) and the pounding Capacity (Cp) kg/hr. The findings of the tests

showed that the yam pounder had average pounding efficiency of 98.04% whereas

the maximum and minimum pounding capacity (output) were observed to be

120kg/hr and 96.0kg/hr at pounding time, Tp of 1 minute and 2.5 minutes

respectively. The pounding output had linear relationship with the mass of well

pounded yam, Mwp,(kg) as the pounding capacity, Cp (kg/hr) decreases with

proportional increase in the mass of well pounded yam Mwp,(kg). The

performance of the machine was satisfactory; households and restaurant operators

will find more comfort in using it for pounding yam.

Abdullahi et al., (2018) developed a dual operated single screw driven yam

pounding machine designed to carry out both manual and motorized operations.

The machine consist of manual hand winder, electric motor, pulley, v-belt, barrel,

screw shaft and supporting frame. The maximum volume of yam the machine can

pound is 0.0000479m3/min while the 1kg of yam for this work was pounded at a

time of 8.07 minutes using the motorize operation and 13.18m minute using the

manual operation. The coefficient of friction between pounded yam and the

stainless steel was found to be 1:1. The crushing stress of the boiled yam was 17.59
/ 2, while the density of yam before and after boiling was 1.25x10-3kg/cm3 and

1.95x10-3kg/cm3 respectively. The white yam was found to produce better

homogeneous bond formation or desired texture of the pounded yam from the

study.

Adebayo et al., (2015) carried out a performance evaluation of a motorised Yam

Pounder Cum Boiler was designed and fabricated in the Department of

Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering, Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi

Nigeria. The performance evaluation of the machine was carried out using a

factorial experiment in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) involving

three levels of speed (380, 479 and 565rpm) and three levels of feedrate (0.6, 1.2,

1.8kg) in three replications. The result obtained was statistically analysed using

SPSS 16.0 software for Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan’s New

Multiple Range Test (DNMRT) to determine the level of significant among the

treatment factors. The performance parameters considered for measurement are

Pounding Efficiency (%), Pounding Capacity (kg/hr) and Percentage of Lumps

(%). The results from the investigation obtained are 93%, 100.80 kg/hr and 7%, for

Optimum Pounding Efficiency, Pounding Capacity and Percentage of Lumps

respectively at Speed of 380 rpm and Feedrate of 1.8kg/min. Also, the result of the

statistical analysis shows that the machine speed, feedrate and the interactions
between them are all significant factors on the Pounding Capacity, Percentage of

Lumps and Pounding Efficiency of the machine at 5% confidence level.

2.5 Knowledge Gap from reviewed literature

(i) Most fabricated yam pounding machine were physically robust making it

difficult to be moved around easily, thus our attempt will work on improving

the portability of the yam pounding machine.

(ii) Absence of economic analysis of the fabricated yam pounding machine to

assess their suitability for mass production.