A New Method for Threshing and Washing Eggplant Seeds

The conventional manual method of cutting, scooping and washing eggplant seeds is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Especially when the quantity of seed eggplants is large and the weather is unstable, it is extremely unfavorable for rushing the harvest and drying. With manual cutting and scooping, the seed color is often rather poor, for example, tending to be grayish and dull, which affects the appearance quality; moreover, when scooping out the seeds, it is not easy to scoop them clean, and losses from scattering are also relatively high.

The new method of threshing with a washing machine has the following advantages: first, the processing personnel no longer use their fingers to directly dig out the seeds, greatly reducing labor intensity, saving labor and time, with work efficiency 8-10 times that of the hand-scooping method. This method does not affect the normal germination traits of the seeds, does not waste seeds, and has a high recovery rate. Second, the seed surface is clean, the color is true, and the glossiness is noticeably improved, giving excellent commercial appearance traits. The threshing and washing procedure is as follows:

Mechanical and electrical preparation: one washing machine in normal working condition, a power strip, and water for rinsing. Add water to about 70% of the highest water level line inside the tub.

Fruit selection and slicing: select intact seed fruits that are free of pests and diseases and have undergone after-ripening, and slice them crosswise on a wooden board to a thickness of about 1.8 cm. When slicing, the small seedless end portion can be cut off and discarded. The amount of slices prepared should be based on cutting and using as you go, with all slices used up once cutting is finished, to avoid pile-up and rotting that would discolor the seeds.

Start the machine for threshing: connect the power and turn on the machine; after the strong-wash water has rolled, add the seed fruit slices that are free of soil contamination, with an appropriate amount of 10-13 kg, taking care that the water level in the tub does not exceed the highest water level line; the threshing time is 15-20 minutes. When it is observed that the vast majority of the slices are broken up and the seeds have separated from the flesh, the machine can be turned off.

Seed rinsing: scoop the mixture of flesh and seeds from the machine into a basin, add water to dilute and stir; after the seeds settle for a moment, use a bamboo tool to scoop out the seedless fragments of flesh floating on top, then slowly pour off the suspended cloudy water, leaving the seeds behind. Repeatedly add water and rinse until clean seeds free of any debris are washed out. Then, put the washed wet seeds into a cloth bag, tie the opening, spin out the excess water, and spread them promptly to dry on a clean colorless cloth sheet or a clean fine-meshed straw mat, stirring and turning them frequently so that the seed moisture content reaches the standard dryness.