Determination of Some Physical and Mechanical Properties of Apricot Fruit, Pit and Kernel, Ghermez-Shahrood Variety

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Iran is believed to occupy the second place, following turkey, among the apricot producing countries in the world. Iran is faced with problems in export of apricot due to little or non-observance of drying principals and inattention to world market requirements. The physical and mechanical properties of agricultural products are the most needed and important parameters for design and development of such systems as handling, grading, sizing, processing and packaging systems. Therefore, the physical and mechanical properties of apricot fruit, pit and kernel of the commercial cultivar Ghermeze-Shahrood was followed in this study. The results indicated the average values of length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, mass, volume and sphericity of the fruit as: 52.34 mm, 38.44 mm, 38.39 mm, 42.42 mm, 44.21 g, 45.87 cm3 and 81.07%, respectively. The average values of length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, mass, volume and sphericity were respectively 33.36 mm, 14.89 mm, 8.08 mm, 16.35 mm, 1.35 g, 1.37 cm3 and 49.01% for the pit. The values of coefficient of friction on steel, galvanized steel and plywood sheets were on the average determined as 0.417 for the fruit, 0.426 the pit and 0.523 for the kernel, respectively. The moduli of elasticity of the fruit vs. pit were 2.04 and 175.13 MPa, respectively. The minimum rupture force, deformation and toughness of the pit along with its thickness were determined at 0.2 to 0.4 (d.b) moisture contents. The obtained data can be employed for the design and development of postharvest, handling, grading, packaging and other processing equipments needed for export enhancement of the fruit.

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