Some Engineering Properties of Pnut (Arachis hypogaea) as relevant to Agricultural Processing.

Abstract

In this study, selected engineering properties (shape, size, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, colour, seed mass, volume, particle density, bulk density, porosity, surface area, angle of repose, and compressive strength) of three improved varieties of peanut; SAMNUT 10, SAMNUT 11, and SAMNUT 22 of both the whole seed and the kernel were determined at moisture contents of 7.26%, 7.68%, 7.68%, 6.74%, 6.38% and 6.62% respectively. The highest value of compressive strength for whole seeds of SAMNUT 10, SAMNUT 11 and SAMNUT 22 are 115.80N, 1181.30N and 124.53N, while for the kernels are 78.83N, 88.93N and 83.09N respectively. For both the whole seeds and the kernels, SAMNUT 11 has the highest compressive load while, SAMNUT 10 has the lowest compressive load for both the whole seeds and the kernels relative to the other varieties. In operations such as shelling, crushing, and oil extraction of Peanuts, using these varieties, SAMNUT 11 requires a high force for compressing, while SAMNUT 10 requires a lesser compressive force. Therefore these results are important for maximum efficiency in designing equipment required for further processing of Peanuts and the reduction of mechanical damage to agricultural produce during post harvest handling, and processing.