Some Physico-Mechanical Properties of Apricot Fruit, Pit and Kernel of Ordubad Variety

The physical and mechanical properties of apricot fruit, pit and kernel are the most important parameters for designing and development of harvesting, handling, grading, sizing, processing and packaging equipments. The objective of this study was to determine physical and mechanical properties of apricot fruit, pit and kernel of commercial cultivar of Ordubad. The physical and mechanical properties of the fruit, pit and kernel were determined at 82.29%, 22.12% and 22.65% (w.b.) moisture content, respectively. The pit was compressed along the length, width and thickness at 0.085, 0.20, 0.30 and 0.40 (d.b) moisture contents to determine required force, deformation and energy per volume (toughness) at rupture point. The results showed that average values of length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, mass, volume and sphericity for the fruit were 46.64 mm, 44.68 mm, 41.21 mm, 43.93 mm, 48.17 g, 45.84 cm3 and 94.35%, respectively. The average values of length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, mass, volume and sphericity for the pit were 29.74 mm, 20.84 mm, 13.07 mm, 20.01 mm, 2.69 g, 2.59 cm3 and 67.39%, respectively. The average values of coefficient of friction on different surfaces namely steel, galvanized steel and plywood sheets were determined 0.225 for the fruit, 0.415 for the pit and 0.538 for the kernel, respectively. The hardness at upper, middle and lower parts of the fruit were 3.03 N, 2.23 N and 2.93 N, respectively. The modulus of elasticity was 2.10 MPa for the fruit and 240.70 MPa for the pit. The maximum and minimum rupture forces of the pit were 847.70 N along the length at 0.085 (d.b) and 163.5 N along the width at 0.3 (d.b), respectively