AE 137: Postharvest Technology for Grains

Properties of Food Grains

Laboratory Exercise No. 1
Jayson B. Cole

Introduction

Knowledge about physical and aerodynamic properties of agricultural products are

needed in design and adjustment of machines used during harvesting, separating, cleaning,
handling and storing of agricultural materials and convert them into food, feed or fodder. The
properties which are useful during design must be known and these properties must be known
and these properties must be determined at laboratory conditions (Gursoy, S., Guzel, E., 2010).
The size and shape are, for instance, important in their electrostatic separation from
undesirable materials and in the development of sizing and grading machinery. Bulk density, true
density, and porosity (the ratio of intergranular space to the total space occupied by the grain)
can be useful in sizing grain hoppers and storage facilities; they can also affect the rate of heat
and mass transfer of moisture during aeration and drying processes; Density is used to separate
materials with different densities or specific gravities. Separation of properly matured peas can
be separated from the immature and infected ones by water flotation methods. Grain bed with
low porosity will have greater resistance to water vapor escape during the drying process, which
may lead to higher power to drive the aeration fans (Kumar, P., 2008).
The objective of this exercise was to determine the relationship between the angle of
repose and bulk density to the moisture content of rice and wheat.

Materials and Methods