Determination of Physical Properties of Afzelia Africana Seeds

Abstract

Selected physical properties of Afzelia africanaseeds were determined at four moisture levels: 10.60%, 12.80%, 15.20% and 18.40% wet basis (w.b). The seeds were categorized in three batches according to their weights: Batch I (2g Batch III (3.99spectively. Arithmetic and geometric mean diameters, sphericity and projected area ranged from 13.5700.43-15.8230.41mm, 12.2450.33-14.4300.39mm, 57.800.07-75.600.03% and 186.21828.42-256.03712.98mmrespectively. Unit mass, unit volume, aspect ratio and surface area ranged from 2.5450.23g-4.5150.09g, 7.8970.89-12.7951.03cm, 49.2465.37-51.5191.97% and 467.28525.72-657.73435.59mm². Porosity, true and bulk densities ranged from 41.85110.57-45.8247.72%, 0.6560.28-1.0900.30g/cm  and 0.3050.08-0.4310.18g/cmrespectively. The highest mean value of coefficient of static friction (0.460.07) was recorded for iron steel structural surface for batch III, batches I and II recorded the lowest (0.32±0.04) for plywood surface.The highest mean value of angle of repose (32.1388) was recorded for plywood surface for batch I while the lowest 25.3569  was recorded for batch II on iron steel surface among the three batches.

Keywords: Physical properties, Afzelia africanaseeds, moisture content