Effect of moisture on the physical properties of three varieties of kenaf seeds

Abstract

The physical properties of three kenaf varieties were evaluated as a function of moisture contents varying from 7.67 to 26.21, 7.35 to 25.96 and 7.27 to 25.53 % (dry basis) for cv. Everglades, Tainung and SF-459, respectively. The results showed that the increase in the moisture content of the kenaf seeds linearly decreased the bulk density, true density and rupture force, whereas it linearly increased the length, width, thickness, arithmetic mean diameter, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, surface area, seed volume, thousand seed mass, porosity, angle of repose and terminal velocity. Among the three varieties, maximum values for most selected physical properties of kenaf seeds were obtained for the Everglades seeds. At all moisture contents, the highest static coefficient of friction was found on the plywood surface followed by rubber, then galvanized iron, aluminum, glass and finally stainless steel. This study was conducted to investigate some moisture-dependent physical properties of kenaf seeds. These physical properties are necessary for the design of equipments for harvesting, processing, transportation, sorting, separating and packing.