Studies on Some Physical Properties of Protein-rich Legume (Lens esculantus) Splits

Abstract

Basic physical properties of biomaterials that are often required in order to design production equipment, processes and assessment of the effect of processing on nutrients were determined for an important legume Lens esculantus splits, at a moisture content of 10.06± 0.59 % on dry weight basis. The average longitudinal, transverse and thickness dimensions were 3.67, 3.46 and 0.47 mm, respectively. The geometric mean diameter, sphericity, aspect ratio and true density were 1.79 mm, 49.69 %, 94.36 % and 3.35 g/ml, respectively. However, static coefficient of friction varied on two different surfaces from 0.191 on glass to 0.469 on galvanized steel sheet with the legumes perpendicular to the direction of motion, while the angle of repose was 31.89º. The optical parameters were evaluated using hunter color technique on L, a & b scale and found 61.078, 27.756 and 27.524, respectively confirming the characteristic color of selected biomaterial.