Cereal Chem 56:181 - 184.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Village-Scale Mechanical Dehulling of Cowpeas.

R. D. Reichert, E. F. Lorer, and C. G. Youngs. Copyright 1979 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Two methods of dehulling two varieties of Nigerian cowpeas were quantitatively tested. A reflectance spectroscopic technique was developed to measure the percent residual hull in brown cowpea flour. The Hill grain thresher, an abrasive type dehuller, effectively dehulled cowpeas at low Carborundum stone speeds. Brown or black-eyed cowpeas were dehulled at extraction levels of 73-86% and throughputs of 250-1,800 lb per hour. After a 10-12 min soak in water, cowpeas also were effectively dehulled with a rubber-matted barley deawner. Yields of 94-96% were obtained at throughputs of about 200 lb per hour. Moisture contents of the latter products were 20-30%, necessitating a drying step. The Hill grain thresher is a more versatile dehuller, but for special applications a barley deawner may be useful.