Determination of physical, mechanical, and structural seed properties of pepper cultivars

The aim of the present study was to determine various physical, mechanical, and structural characteristics of seed of pepper cultivars Ya?lik Kapya, Demre Sivri, Yalova Carliston, Kandil Dolma, and Cin Sus Yediveren, which are grown extensively in Turkey, with initial moisture content ranging between 7.03 and 7.21% (w.b.). Width, length, and thickness were found to be in the range of 3.00-3.72, 3.43-4.40, and 0.66-0.82 mm, respectively. It was revealed that sphericity of the seeds of Ya?lik Kapya, Demre Sivri, Yalova Carliston, Kandil Dolma, and Cin Sus Yediveren were 51,57,56,51 and 57%, respectively. In terms of the roundness which ranges between 76 and 85% depending on pepper cultivars. The aspect ratio of Ya?lik Kapya, Demre Sivri, Yalova Carliston, Kandil Dolma, and Cin Sus Yediveren were determined to be 84.60, 88.04, 94.43, 85.55, and 87.67%, respectively. It was also noted that the porosity of the pepper seeds was in the range of 44.94-49.61%. Besides, we found that as the weight of pepper seeds increased, their terminal velocity increased accordingly, and thus terminal velocities were found to be 2.87-4.66 m s-1. In the current study, the static friction angle and coefficients of the cultivars were determined by means of six different plates including aluminium, stainless steel, galvanized iron, rubber, glass, and plywood. The plywood plate was found to be the least slippery; consequently, the static friction angle and coefficient were determined to be the highest for the plywood plate. © 2015 Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences