Determination Of Some Selected Engineering Properties Of Two Different Species Of African Oil Bean Seed (Pentaclethra Macropliylla Benth) In Relation To Their Processing

ABSTRACT

The physical and mechanical properties of two Varieties of African Oil Bean sees were evaluated in this study. This was done to provide scientific data to help in designing machines that are optimized to process both Varieties of the seeds. The physical parameters studied are the axial dimensions, seed weight, seed volume, seed density, bulk density, sphericity, equivalent and geometric square mean diameters. The mechanical properties studied are the angle of repose, coefficient of static friction and compressive strength. The results show significant (P<O.05) differences between measured values of both species, with Variety 2 being higher than Variety 1. On this basis, it was concluded that processing conditions for both Varieties using machines would differ considerably.