DEVELOPMENT OF CUSTARD APPLE (Annona squamosa L.) PEELER.

The common name of the Annona squamosa L. is custard apple. The colour of the fruit is pale green to blue green with a deep pink bluish in some varieties. The flesh is light fragrant and sweet, creamy white to light yellow. Each fruit contains 18-35 seeds and are adhered to the middle axis called conical core. Custard apple requires hot, dry climate during flowering and high humidity during fruit setting. The Custard apple withstands drought conditions and cloudy weather. The fruit is a compound fruit which is heart shaped and ranges from 150-500g weight. Peeling of custard apple is not an easy process. There are several problems that need to be encountered during the peeling process. The manual peeling custard apple is difficult due to less availability of labour and it is very tedious and time consuming work. There is very less literature available on separation of custard apple peel from fruit. As peel and pulp of custard apple fruit is very delicate and difficult to separate. There is no machine available in the market for peeling of custard apple.