| Morula nuts were characterized for several physical and mechanical properties relevant to food process engineering. Mean moisture content of the nuts which had been naturally dried under the sun was 7.65% (w.b.). Mean nut length, width and thickness were, respectively, 25.64, 21.99 and 18.03 mm, while the derived geometric mean and equivalent diameters were 21.62 and 21.72 mm, respectively. Mean surface and projected areas were 1 475.74 and 445.02 mm2, respectively, while mean nut volume was 5 371.90 mm3. Mean apparent density of the nuts was 811.30 kg/m3 while bulk density and bulk porosity were determined as 476.43 kg/m3 and 41.28%, respectively. Morula nuts are generally spherical, with mean sphericity of 84.40%, and aspect and flakiness ratios of 0.86,... |
