Some physical and mechanical properties of safflower seed (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

Some physical and mechanical properties of safflower seed were determined as a function of moisture content in the range from 7.4 to 9.2%. The dimensions of the length, width and thickness (major, medium and minor axes) varied from 7.27 to 7.81 mm, 3.5 to 3.79 mm and from 2.8 to 3.5 mm, respectively. The geometric mean diameters, the weight, thousand kernel weight, sphericity and porosity values increased from 4.46 to 4.82 mm, from 0.054 to 0.07 g, from 52.68 to 68.8 g, from 47.14 to 48.83% and from 40.7 to 44.2%, respectively. The static coefficient of friction for four structural surfaces increased from 25.36 to 29.99 for galvanized metal surface, from 22.2 to 26.83 for painted metal surface, from 23.92 to 25.05 for plywood and from 27.56 to 31.88 for textile (with plywood and textile grains parallel to the direction of movement). While fracture force increased from 42.4 to 63.8 N with increasing moisture content, insertion and crushing forces decreased from 48.64 to 30. 65 and from 75.39 to 62.3 N, respectively. © 2006 Asian Network for Scientific Information