The rotary dryer designed and fabricated by research team of chemical engineers of the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUTMINNA) for the processing of Shea butter nuts has helped local producers to improve the quality of the products to internationally accepted standard, Professor Joseph Onyebuchi Okafor has said.
Professor Okafor stated this weekend in his inaugural lecture delivered at the Gidan Kwanu main campus of the university.
He said, “The rotary drier designed and fabricated by my team has helped local producers of Shea butter attain improved quality of the product. We conceived the idea to design and fabricate a rotary dryer for Shea butter processing by the local processors in Nigeria to enhance the quality of Shea butter products.”
The professor of Chemical Engineering stated that the use of the dryer in the country has raised the quality of Shea butter to Grade A which he said is of high premium in the international market and a major breakthrough for the country.
He said; “unlike rotary dryer, the traditional method of Shea butter production namely sun drying, oven drying and manually operated, gave inconsistent results that were below the African standard for unrefined Shea butter thereby negatively impacting yields product quality and pricing.”
He also expressed concern over the threat to environment by incessant pollution with untreated industrial waste such as effluents from dry cleaning services, bottling companies, domestic chemical and allied industries.
