Influence of blade distance on onion cutting machines

Abstract

The high demand for shallots is driving innovation in post-harvest technology to improve efficiency, iris quality, and reduce material loss. This study aims to explore the effect of variations in spacing between blade blades in shallot cutting machines on slice quality, production capacity, and onion breakage. Although various onion cutting machines have been developed, research that systematically addresses the impact of knife spacing on iris quality is still limited, especially in the context of households and MSMEs. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of blade spacing of 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm, and 0.9 mm on onion cutting machines. The results showed that the greater the distance between the blades, the higher the production capacity achieved, with an increase from 48 kg/h at a distance of 0.5 mm to 73 kg/h at a distance of 0.9 mm. Although the production capacity is increasing, the quality of the slices remains consistent with a thickness of 0.8-1.1 mm. This research makes a new contribution by identifying optimal blade spacing to improve the efficiency and quality of the slice in the context of an economical onion cutting machine, especially for the household and MSME scale