Innovative roaster for soybeans
A South African agricultural engineer has developed a soy bean roaster for farmers to process their harvest on-farm as a feed addition.
This innovative equipment, the first of its kind in the world, can also be used to process a variety of seeds and nuts.
Raw soy beans have a protein content of approximately 40% and an oil content of about 20%, potentially making them an excellent addition to animal feed.
However, raw beans are largely indigestible and contain an enzyme that can lead to ammonia poisoning.
Proper heat treatment of the beans eliminates both problems, increases storage periods and makes milling easier.
The continuous tumble roaster developed by Fritz Teseling of Bloemfontein-based Roastech, is an efficient, low-tech, affordable machine that can also roast peanuts, maize, coffee beans, pumpkin seeds and most nuts.
It can be used to heat sunflower seeds before cold pressing, as well as for the sterilisation of almost any kind of seed.
Four components
Teseling explains that the machine consists of four components – a feed hopper, a container equipped with a fan, heating elements and control system, a rotating unit and a standard incubation and cooling unit.
The machine has few moving parts and is almost maintenance free.
Its tumble roasting action results in even baking of all products and shows up toxic seeds and nuts, which is important when roasting peanuts for export, for instance.
The roaster is lower-priced and more energy-efficient than conventional equipment, which uses gas or infrared heating. Processing costs are a few cents per kilogram.
More info can be found at www.roastech.com
