Vol. 11, Issue 8 (2022)

Author(s):
Kirankumar M, S Anandakumar and Atchaya PT

Abstract:
The physical properties of grain depend upon the moisture content, and they are essential to designing equipment for crop production, material handling, and processing equipment. A study was conducted to know the physical properties of proso millet at moisture levels ranging from 8 to 16 percent. The dimensional properties such as length range between 2.08 to 2.547 mm, width (1.1 to 1.36 mm), thickness (1.39 to 1.72 mm), arithmetic mean diameter (1.47 to 1.80 mm), geometric mean diameter (1.66 to 1.77 mm), Sphericity (1.47 to 1.73), surface area (8.661 to 9.933 mm²), and sample volume (1.709 to 3.213 mm³) for proso millet. Dimensional properties increased linearly as moisture content increased. Similarly, grain bulk density and hardness decreased as moisture content increased, i.e., 756.835 to 731.414 kg m⁻³ and 1.43 to 0.74 kg. The true density, porosity, and frictional properties of proso millet increased as the moisture content increased. All physical properties at different moisture levels were significantly different at a 5% significance level.