REVIEW ON CASSAVA MASH SIF TING METHODS AND MECHANISMS

Abstract

Cassava is presently the most important food crop in Nigeria from the point of view of both the area cultivated and the tonnage produced.Cassava has transformed greatly into high yielding cash crop, a foreign exchange earner as well as a crop for world food security and industrialization. As a result of this, there has been an unprecedented rise in the demand for cassava and its numerous products worldwide for both domestic and industrial applications. However, cassava processors are currently finding it extremely difficult to respond positively to this increase in demand due to the prevalence of the traditional processing methods employed the sifting operation inclusive. This has made the appraisal of the current sifting technologies pertinent in order to address the areas that need technical improvement and further research efforts towards the evolution of cost effective sifting technologies with improved efficiencies which would enhance the capacity to exploit the cassava market potential.  Therefore, this paper reviews the efforts made, and currently being made towards an efficient and cost effective mechanization of cassava mash sifting operation so as to overcome the challenges being faced using traditional method of sieving cassava mash.