Abstract

                                The present study was carried out to investigate the different physical and mechanical properties of three varieties of moong beans (SML 668, SML 832 and PAU 911) under different levels of moisture contents (3.24% to 28.25 %). The results showed that most of the physical properties such as size (length, width, thickness, arithmetic and geometric mean diameter) and shape (sphericity, surface area etc.) increased linearly with increase in moisture content for all the varieties although grains of variety SML 668 were bigger in size as compared to other varieties. Bulk density of moong bean grains decreased with increase in moisture content whereas true density and porosity showed a positive trend. Static coefficient of friction showed an upward trend with rise in moisture content for the three studied surfaces. As compared to other surfaces, the iron surface showed a lower coefficient at very low moisture content and a relatively higher coefficient at very high moisture content. For all the studied varieties, mean rupture force and rupture energy showed negative linear correlation with moisture content. Grains of PAU 911 variety had the highest rupture force and rupture energy i.e. 61.2 N and 8.30 N mm, respectively.

Key words : Moisture content, moong beans, physical properties, rupture force