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A decorticator (from Latin: cortex, bark) is a machine for stripping the skin, bark, or rind off nuts, wood, plant stalks, grain, etc., in preparation for further processing.
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History
In 1861, a farmer named Bernagozzi from Bologna manufactured a machine called a "scavezzatrice," a decorticator for hemp. A working hemp decorticator from 1890, manufactured in Germany, is preserved in a museum in Bologna. In Italy, the "scavezzatrice" faded in the 1950s because of monopolisation from fossil fuel, paper interests, synthetic materials and from other less profitable crops.
Probably hundreds of different decorticators have been developed since 1890. Misconceptions spread about the device includes the suggestion that the first working hemp decorticator was invented in the United States in 1935. In 1916, there were already five different kinds of "machine brakes" for hemp in use in the United States, and still others in Europe.
In 1919, George Schlichten received a U.S. patent on his improvements of the decorticator for treating fiber bearing plants. Schlichten failed to find investors for production of his decorticator and died as a broken man in 1923.
Current usage
Even though many suppliers claim the "full-automatic" type for their decorticating units, the actual operation identifies the "semi-automatic" features by several stops during operation.
There are companies who produce and sell decorticators for different crops.