Vol. 5 (5) : September-October 2014 issue
Green Farming Vol. 5 (5) : 920-923 ; September-October, 2014
Physical properties of Jatropha curcas L. fruits of Mewar region
V.V. GONJARI1*, B.S. GHOLAP2, S.M. MATHUR3 and Y.C. BHATT4
Deptt. of Farm Machinery & Power Engineering, College of Technology and Engineering, M.P. University of Agri. & Technology, Udaipur - 313 001 (Rajasthan)
Designation : 1SRF *(vikasgonjari@gmail.com), 2Res. Associate, 3,4Professor
Subject : Agriculture Engineering, Farm Machinery, Energy & Power and Process Engineering
Paper No. : P-1477
Total Pages : 4
Received : 13 March 2014
Revised accepted : 25 September 2014
First Page
Citation :
V.V. GONJARI, B.S. GHOLAP, S.M. MATHUR and Y.C. BHATT. 2014. Physical properties of Jatropha curcas L. fruits of Mewar region. Green Farming Vol. 5 (5) : 920-923 ; September-October, 2014
ABSTRACT
The physical properties of jatropha fruit are necessary for the design of equipment to handle, transport, process and storage. In this study some physical properties of jatropha fruits were determined as a function of moisture content namely, dimensions, arithmetic and geometric mean diameter, sphericity, surface area, 1000 unit mass, bulk density, true density, porosity, crushing strength, angle of repose and coefficient of friction. The average axial dimensions length, width and thickness were 26.62 mm, 21.98 mm and 20.09 mm, at a moisture content of 12.84% d.b., respectively. In the moisture range from 7.95% to 12.84% d.b., studies on sun dried jatropha fruit showed that thousand fruit mass increased from 2057.39g to 2167.74 g, surface area from 1550.34 to 1633.50mm2, sphericity from 0.84 to 0.85 and angle of repose from 35.68 o to 38.51o. Bulk density decreased from 212.23 to 206.27 kg/m3, true density from 438.09 to 370.29 kg/m3, porosity from 51.55% to 44.29% and crushing strength from 221.08 to 124.97N. The static coefficient of friction was least in case of aluminum sheet while it is highest for plywood.
Key words :
Jatropha fruit. Moisture content, Physical properties.