Physical Properties of Whole Rye Seed (Secale cereal)

Abstract

Certain physical properties of rye – density, true density, angle of internal friction, porosity and static coefficient of friction – are necessary for the design of transport, storage and processing equipment. . These properties were evaluated as a function of moisture content of grain. The grain was tested for bulk density, density, porosity, angle of internal friction and coefficient of friction with various materials at 9% and 13% moisture content (dry basis, db). The average length, width and thickness of the rye grains were 7.11mm, 4.65mm and 3.18mm. It was observed that bulk density decreased linearly from 598.41 to 580.76 kg/m3, as moisture content increased, while density increased linearly from 922.43 to 991.56 kg/m3. The porosity and angle of internal friction increased as moisture increased. The porosity increased linearly from 37.00% to 40.50%, and the angle of internal friction increased from 21.500 to 25.000. The static coefficient of friction increased from 0.283 to 0.412, 0.345 to 0.438, and 0.380 to 0.461 for glass, galvanized iron and wood surfaces respectively.