Int.

Agrophysics, 2008, 22, 117-124

INTERNATIONAL
Agrophysics
www.international-agrophysics.org

Some physical properties of wild pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) nut and kernel
as a function of moisture content
M. Nazari Galedar*, A. Jafari, and A. Tabatabaeefar
Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering, Faculty of Biosystem Engineering, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Received January 5, 2008; accepted March 6, 2008

A b s t r a c t. In order to design equipment for improved content on the physical properties of wild pistachio nuts and
processing of wild pistachio (Pistacia vera L.), some of the engine- kernels is of importance in the design of handling and pro-
ering properties were determined as a function of moisture content. cessing equipment. The major moisture-dependent physical
The average length, width and thickness of wild pistachio nuts at
5.83% moisture content (w.b.) were 13.98, 8.76 and 7.25 mm,
properties of biological materials are shape, size (dimen-
while the corresponding values of kernels at 6.03% moisture sions), mean diameters, surface area, sphericity, mass, true
content (w.b.) were 11.07, 5.92 and 4.83 mm, respectively. The density, bulk density, porosity, angle of repose and static
bulk and true densities of wild pistachio nut and kernel increased friction coefficient against various surfaces (Mohsenin,
with increase in moisture content, while porosity decreased. At all 1980). Size, shape and physical dimensions of wild pista-
moisture contents, the static coefficient of friction was the highest chio nut and kernel are important in sizing, sorting, sieving
for wild pistachio nut and kernel on rubber and the least for glass. and other separation processes. Bulk density determines the
The results of this research indicated that the filling and emptying
capacity of storage and transport systems, while true density
angle of repose of nuts and kernels increased as the moisture
content increased in the range studied. is useful for separation equipment; porosity of the mass of
K e y w o r d s: wild pistachio, nut, kernel, physical properties seeds determines the resistance to airflow during aeration
and drying of nuts and kernels (Vilche, 2003). Angle of
INTRODUCTION repose is a useful parameter for calculation of belt conveyor
width and for designing the shape of storage. Frictional
Pistachio nut is one of the popular tree nuts. Wild pista- forces affect the amount of power required to convey the
chio kernels are a good source of fat (50-60%) and contain material. Static friction between wild pistachio nut and con-
unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic, linolenic and oleic acids), veyor belt affects the maximum angle with the horizontal
essential for human diet (Maskan and Karatas, 1998; Sho- which the conveyor can assume when transporting wild
kraii, 1977). It is consumed in confectionery. Because of the pistachio nuts.
deep green colour of wild pistachio kernels, it is favoured in Physical properties of numerous nuts and grains have
the ice cream and pastry industries (Woodroof, 1979). been determined by other researchers. Some of them deter-
In order to design equipment for harvesting, handling, mined physical properties of different nuts, such as gorgon
cleaning, separating, packing, storing, and processing of nut (Jha and Prasad, 1993), neem nut (Visvanathan et al.,
agricultural products, their physical properties need to be 1996), cashew nut (Balasubramanian, 2001), bambara
known (Mohsenin, 1980). Aviara et al. (1999) noted that the groundnut (Baryeh, 2001) and arecanut (Kaleemullah and
moisture-dependent characteristics of the physical proper- Gunasekar, 2002). Several researchers determined mecha-
ties of agricultural products have an effect on the adjustment nical properties of nuts, such as macadamia nut (Braga et al.,
and performance of processing machines. A range of 1999), shea nut (Olaniyan and Oje, 2002), wheat (Tabata-
moisture content usually exists, within which optimum baeefar, 2003) and walnut (Koyuncu et al., 2004).
performance is achieved. Therefore, the effect of moisture

*Corresponding author’s e-mail: mehrdad_n_g@yahoo.com © 2008 Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences
118 M. NAZARI GALEDAR et al.

However, literature review showed that there is not ples were manually cleaned to remove foreign matter and
enough published work on the geometric, gravimetric, fri- broken and immature nuts. A photograph of wild pistachio
ctional properties and mechanical behaviour under com- nuts in shell and kernels is shown in Fig. 1. The initial moistu-
pression loading of wild pistachio nut and its kernel relating re content of wild pistachio was determined using the oven
to moisture content. Hsu et al. (1991) studied the physical method at 103 ± 2°C until a constant weight was reached
and thermal properties of Kerman cultivar of pistachio nut. (Kashaninejad et al., 2005). Initial moisture content of nut and
They investigated some of the moisture-dependent gravime- kernel was found to be 5.83 and 6.03% w.b., respectively. To
tric properties (bulk density and specific gravity) of this va- obtain higher moisture contents than initial, the samples were
riety. Kashaninejad et al. (2005) also investigated some prepared by adding a pre-determined quantity of distilled
moisture-dependent physical properties of dried pistachio water and sealing in separate polyethylene bags. The samples
nut and its kernel for O’hadi variety. Razavi et al. (2007a, b, c) were kept at 5°C in a refrigerator for one week to enable the
studied the geometric, gravimetric and frictional properties moisture to distribute uniformly. Before starting the experi-
of five Iranian commercial varieties of pistachio nut and its ment, the samples were taken out of the refrigerator and
kernel (namely, Akbari, Badami, Kalle-Ghuchi, Momtaz allowed to warm up to room temperature for 2 h.
and O’hadi). Therefore, the objective of this study was to de-
termine the geometric properties (length, width, thickness, Geometric properties
geometric and arithmetic mean diameter, sphericity and sur-
To determine the average size of the nut and kernel, a sam-
face area), gravimetric properties (including unit mass, true
ple of 100 nuts was randomly picked and their three major
volume, bulk density, true density, and porosity), frictional
dimensions, namely length, width and thickness (as shown
properties (angle of repose and static coefficient of friction)
in Fig. 1), were measured using a digital caliper having a re-
and aerodynamic properties (terminal velocity) of wild
solution of 0.01 mm. The average diameter of these was
pistachio nut and its kernel as a function of moisture content.
calculated by using the arithmetic mean and geometric mean
These will be useful parameters in designing handling and
of the three axial dimensions. The arithmetic mean diameter,
processing equipment. The range of moisture content was
Da , and geometric mean diameter, Dg , of the nut and kernel
selected from 5.83 to 31.15% w.b. and 6.03 to 30.73% w.b.
were calculated by using the following relationships (Aydin,
for wild pistachio nut and kernel respectively, since all
2003; Mohsenin, 1980; Olajide and Igbeka, 2003):
processing operations and storage are performed in this
moisture range. Da = ( L+W +T ) / 3, (1)
1
MATERIALS AND METHODS Dg = ( LWT ) 3. (2)
Sample preparation and moisture content where: Da – arithmetic mean diameter (mm), Dg – geometric
determination mean diameter (mm), L – length (mm), W – width (mm), T –
thickness (mm).
The wild pistachio nuts used in this study were collected
The sphericity, f (%), was calculated by using the
in the 2007 season from wild pistachio forests of Khajeh-
following relationship (Mohsenin, 1980):
Kalat, located 140 km northeast from the Mashhad town-
1
ship, capital of Khorasan-Razavi province (base on longi- ( LWT ) 3
tude 54°35’–54°49’ and latitude 36°54’ - 36°64’). The sam- f= . (3)
L
a b c

Fig. 1. Wild pistachio nuts (a), wild pistachio kernels (b), and (c) characteristic dimensions of wild pistachio nut and kernel and
compression directions; Ln, Wn, Tn are the length, width and thickness of the nut; Lk, Wk, Tk are the equivalent dimensions of the kernel; FL,
FW, FT are the forces applied in three directions.
 SOME PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WILD PISTACHIO NUT AND KERNEL 119

The surface area of wild pistachio and its kernel was a graduated scale. The static coefficient of friction (ms) was
found by analogy with a sphere of the same geometric mean then calculated from the following equation (Mohsenin, 1980):
diameter. In obtaining the surface area, S (mm2), of the
samples, the equation given by McCabe et al. (1986) was m s = tan a. (6)
used as: The filling or static angle of repose is the angle with the
S = pDg2 . (4) horizontal at which wild pistachio will stand when piled.
This was determined using a topless and bottomless cylinder
Gravimetric properties of 0.15 m diameter and 0.25 m height. The cylinder was
placed at the centre of a raised circular plate having a dia-
To obtain the unit mass, each sample was weighed by meter of 0.35 m and was filled with wild pistachio nut or its
a precision electronic balance reading to an accuracy of 0.01 g. kernel. The cylinder was raised slowly until it formed a cone
The true volume, V (cm3), as a function of moisture content on a circular plane. The height of the cone was measured and
and variety, was determined using the liquid displacement the filling angle of repose (èf) was calculated by the fol-
method (Pliestic et al., 2006). Toluene (C7H8) was used lowing relationship (Ozguven and Kubilay, 2004):
instead of water because it is absorbed by wild pistachio to
æ 2H ö
a lesser extent. In addition, its surface tension is low, so that q f = tan -1ç ÷, (7)
it fills even shallow dips in a wild pistachio and its dissolu- èDø
tion power is low (Mohsenin, 1980). True density, ñt (kg m-3), where: H and D are the height and diameter of the cone,
of samples was also calculated by dividing the unit mass of respectively. Other researchers have used this method
each sample by its true volume at different moisture content. (Fraser et al., 1978; Joshi et al., 1993; Kaleemullah and
In order to determine the bulk density at a given mois- Gunasekar, 2002; Karababa, 2006; Sacilik et al., 2003).
ture content, a cylindrical container of 0.3 m height and 0.2 m In order to determine the emptying or dynamic angle of
diameter was filled with wild pistachio nut or kernel from repose, a fibreglass box of 0.2×0.2×0.2 m, having a remo-
a height of 0.15 m from the top surface of the container and vable front panel was used. The box was filled with the wild
the top was levelled. No separate or additional manual com- pistachio nut or kernel samples at the moisture content being
paction was done. The electronic balance was used for investigated, and then the front panel was quickly slid up-
weighing, and bulk density, ñb (kg m-3), of samples was then wards, allowing the samples to flow out and assume a natu-
defined as the ratio of the mass of bulk sample to the volume ral heap. The emptying angle of repose (èe) was obtained
of the container. Several researchers, including Baryeh (2002), from measurements of height of samples at two points (h1
Deshpande et al. (1993), Jain and Bal (1997), Kashaninejad and h2) in the sloping wild pistachio heap and the horizontal
et al. (2005), Sharma et al. (1985), Suthar and Das (1996) distance between two points (x1 and x2), using the following
have employed this method for other grains and seeds. equation (Bart-Plange and Baryeh, 2003; Jain and Bal,
According to Mohsenin (1980), the porosity, å (%), can be 1997; Paksoy and Aydin, 2004):
expressed as follows:
é( h2 - h1 ) ù
q e = tan -1ê ú. (8)
æ rb ö ë ( x 2 - x1 ) ú
ê û
e =ç
ç1-
÷100 .
÷ (5)
è rt ø
Statistical analysis
This equation was used to calculate the porosity of wild All the physical properties of wild pistachio nut and its
pistachio nut and its kernel in this research, as a function of kernel were determined at four moisture levels with at least
moisture content. three replications at each level of moisture content. Mean
and standard deviations were calculated by Microsoft Excel
Frictional properties software (2003). The effect of moisture content on different
The static coefficient of friction of wild pistachio nut engineering properties of pistachio nut and its kernel were
and its kernel at four moisture content levels was measured determined using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) me-
for five frictional surfaces, namely glass, fibreglass, rubber, thod and significant differences of means were compared
plywood, and galvanized iron sheets. A fibreglass topless using the least significant difference test (LSD) at 5% signi-
and bottomless box of 0.15 m length, 0.1 m width, and 0.04 m ficance level using MSTATC version 1.4 statistical software
height was placed on an adjustable inclined plane, faced with program (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI).
the test surface and filled with the sample. The box was raised The best relationship between moisture content and physical
slightly (5-10 mm), so as not to touch the surface. The stru- engineering of pistachio nut and its kernel were determined
ctural surface with the box resting on it was inclined gra- using linear and non linear (NLIN procedure) regression
dually with a screw device until the box just started to slide analysis of SAS software (2001) program. Coefficient of de-
down over the surface and the angle of tilt (a) was read from termination (R2), residual mean square (MSE), residual
120 M. NAZARI GALEDAR et al.

plotting and the mean relative percent error (e) were used to moisture ranges are almost the same (Table 1). Therefore,
evaluate the fitting of a model to experimental data. The best both the arithmetic mean and the geometric mean method
model was chosen as the one with the highest coefficient of can be used to determine the average diameters of nuts and
determination and the least residual mean square and the kernels. Similar results were found by Kaleemullah and
mean relative percent error. Gunasekar (2002) and Razavi et al. (2007a), for areca nuts
and kernels and pistachio nuts and kernels, respectively.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The values of sphericity were calculated individually
with Eq. (3) by using the data on geometric mean diameter
The moisture content, average dimensions, sphericity and the major axis of the wild pistachio nut and kernel, and
and surface area of wild pistachio nuts and kernels are given the results obtained are presented in Table 1. The sphericity
in Table 1. In the sample, about 81% of the nuts had a length of the wild pistachio nut and kernel increased from 69.34
in the range of 12-14 mm, about 73% had a width in the and 62.25 to 72.59 and 65.13% when the moisture content
range of 8-10 mm, and about 68% had a thickness in the increased from 5.83 and 6.03 to 31.15 and 30.73 % w.b.,
range of 7-8 mm. About 72% of the kernels had a length in the respectively. The variation of the surface area with the nuts
range of 11-12 mm, about 85% had a width in the range of and kernels moisture content is plotted in Table 1. These
6-7 mm, and about 78% had a thickness in the range of 4-6 results indicate that the surface area increases with increase
mm. Analysis of va- riance ANOVA results showed that the in nut and kernel moisture content. The surface area of the
differences among moisture levels were statistically wild pistachio nut and kernel increased from 289.16 and
significant at the level of 0.05 for the three parameters, 148.31 to 404.87 and 229.61 mm2 when the moisture
although Sacilik et al. (2003) indicated that differences content increased from 5.83 and 6.03 to 31.15 and 30.73%
among moisture contents were statistically insignificant. w.b., respectively. Similar trends have been reported by
The average diameters of nuts and kernels calculated by the Aviara et al. (1999) for guna seed, Sacilik et al. (2003) for
arithmetic and geometric mean were 9.93 and 7.21, 9.75 and hemp seed, and Kashaninejad et al. (2005) for pistachio nut.
6.88 mm at moisture contents of 8.62 and 6.03 % w.b., The bulk density of wild pistachio nut and kernel in-
respectively. ANOVA indicated that the differences among creased from 521 to 543 and from 529 to 548 kg m-3, respec-
the average diameters of wild pistachio nuts and kernels tively, as moisture content increased from 5.83 to 31.15 and
calculated by the two methods were insignificant at a signi- from 6.03 to 30.73% w.b., respectively (Fig. 2a). This was
ficance level of 0.05. In other words, the average diameter of due to the fact that an increase in mass owing to the moisture
wild pistachio nuts and kernels calculated by the arithmetic gain in nut and kernel was lower than accompanying
mean and the geometric mean methods in the researched volumetric expansion (Pliestic et al., 2006). The true density

T a b l e 1. Moisture content, dimensions, sphericity and surface area of wild pistachio nuts and kernels

Parameters Quantity Nuts Kernels

Moisture content 3 5.83 9.68 22.48 31.15 6.03 10.37 21.59 30.73
(% w.b.)
Length (mm) 100 13.98 14.73 15.38 15.93 11.07 11.71 12.31 12.86
(1.12) (1.23) (1.06) (1.35) (0.95) (0.86) (1.06) (1.22)
Width (mm) 100 8.76 9.31 9.97 10.41 5.92 6.46 6.95 7.51
(0.73) (0.68) (0.79) (0.84) (0.58) (0.46) (0.51) (0.42)
Thickness (mm) 100 7.25 7.69 8.24 8.63 4.83 5.48 6.04 6.56
(0.49) (0.58) (0.51) (0.62) (0.35) (0.47) (0.41) (0.55)
Arithmetic mean 100 9.93 10.63 10.99 11.73 7.21 7.83 8.37 8.94
(mm) (0.86) (0.97) (0.83) (1.09) (0.46) (0.58) (0.52) (0.64)
Geometric mean 100 9.75 10.05 10.88 11.35 6.88 7.76 8.06 8.52
(mm) (0.74) (0.97) (1.18) (1.03) (0.51) (0.42) (0.58) (0.55)
Sphericity (%) 100 69.34 70.28 68.92 72.59 62.25 68.15 64.58 65.13
(4.01) (3.49) (3.11) (2.81) (1.84) (2.49) (3.28) (2.95)
Surface area 100 289.16 322.41 365.81 404.87 148.31 193.89 205.01 229.61
(mm2) (26.47) (35.18) (33.25) (37.92) (18.59) (24.37) (22.83) (25.72)

Standard deviation values are in parentheses.

 SOME PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WILD PISTACHIO NUT AND KERNEL 121

was found to decrease from 809 to 829 kg m-3 for nut, and a
from 812 to 833 kg m-3 for kernel (Fig. 2b). The negative
linear relation- ship of bulk and true density with moisture 550
content was also observed by Visvanathan et al. (1996) for 545
neem nut, Baryeh (2001) for bambara groundnut, Aydin
540

Bulk density ñb (kg m )

(2002) for hazelnut, and Razavi et al. (2007b) for pistachio

-3
nut and kernel. The bulk and true density of nuts (n) and 535
kernels (k) was found to have the following relationship with
530
moisture content (MC):
525
ñbn=0.9075 MC+515.81 (R2=0.99), (9)
520
2
ñbk=0.7393 MC+525.30 (R =0.99), (10) 515
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
2
ñtn=0.7815 MC+803.73 (R =0.98), (11)

ñtk=0.8772 MC+807.18 (R2=0.98). (12) b

The estimated porosity of both nut and kernel of wild
pistachio was found to slightly decrease with increase in 840
their moisture content from 5.83 to 31.15% w.b. and 6.03 to
835
30.73% w.b., respectively (Fig. 2c). The porosity of nut
True density ñt (kg m )
-3

decreased from 36.65 to 34.79%, while the porosity of 830

kernel decreased from 35.14 to 34.63%. The negative linear 825

relationship of bulk and true density with moisture content
820
was also observed by Shepherd and Bhardwaj (1986) for
pigeon pea, Dutta et al. (1988) for gram, Aviara et al. (1999) 815
for guna seed, and Nimkar and Chattopadhyay (2001) for 810
green gram. The relationship between moisture content and
805
porosity of nuts and kernels appears to be linear and can be
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
represented by the regression equation:
ån = -0.0695 MC+36.979 (R2 = 0.99), (13)

åk = -0.0744 MC+35.518 (R2 = 0.99). (14)

c
Figure 3a, b show the static coefficient of friction for
37
wild pistachio nut and kernel determined with respect to
galvanized fibreglass, glass, galvanized iron sheet, plywood 36.5
and rubber surfaces at different moisture contents. At all 36
moisture contents, the static coefficient of friction was the
Porosity e (%)

35.5
highest for wild pistachio nut and kernel on rubber, and the
least for glass. As the moisture content of wild pistachio nut 35
and kernel increased, the static coefficient of friction in- 34.5
creased linearly. The relationships between these coeffi-
34
cients against various surfaces and moisture contents of wild
pistachio nut and kernel are shown in Table 2. 33.5
The reason for the increased friction coefficient at 33
higher moisture content may be due to the water present in 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
the nut and kernel offering a cohesive force on the surface of
Moisture content (% w.b.)
contact. As the moisture content of nuts increases, the sur-
face of the samples becomes stickier. Water tends to adhere
to surfaces and the water on the moist kernel surface would Fig. 2. Effect of moisture content on: a – bulk density, b – true
be attracted to the surface across which the sample is being density, and c – porosity of wild pistachio nut (=) and kernel (<).
moved. Other researchers found that as the moisture content
122 M. NAZARI GALEDAR et al.

T a b l e 2. Relationships between static coefficient of friction of wild pistachio nut and kernel and moisture content

Surface Wild pistachio nut R2 Wild pistachio kernel R2

Fiberglass m = 0.0077MC +0.4496 0.967 m = 0.0090MC +0.3490 0.993
Glass m = 0.0053MC +0.3755 0.983 m = 0.0085MC +0.3367 0.995
Galvanized iron sheet m = 0.0035MC +0.3676 0.983 m = 0.0069MC +0.3097 0.996
Plywood m = 0.0037MC +0.2862 0.976 m = 0.0092MC +0.2704 0.987
Rubber m = 0.0041MC +0.2562 0.980 m = 0.0081MC +0.2656 0.989

a increased, the static coefficient of friction increased also

0.80
(Carman, 1996; Gezer et al., 2002; Gupta and Das, 2000;
Joshi et al., 1993; Ogut, 1998; Razavi et al., 2007c).
0.70
The results of the filling and emptying angle of repose of
wild pistachio nuts and kernels at different moisture levels
Static coefficient of friction

0.60
are shown in Fig. 4. The filling angle of repose of wild
0.50
pistachio nut and kernel increased from 15.64 to 18.57° and
from 24.90 to 26.93°, respectively, as moisture content in-
0.40
creased from 5.83 to 31.15% w.b. and 6.03 to 30.73% w.b.
The emptying angle of repose was found to increase from
0.30
24.17 to 27.33° for nut, and from 25.58 to 27.83° for kernel.
The results of this research indicated that the filling angle of
0.20
repose of nuts and kernels increased as the moisture content
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 increased in the range studied. It can be also found that the
emptying angle of repose with wild pistachio nuts and
kernels varieties increased as the moisture content increa-
sed. It seems that it is due to the higher moisture contents and
therefore higher stickiness of the surface of the wild pista-
chio nuts and kernels that confines the easiness of sliding
b nuts on each other. The equations representing the relation-
0.65 ship between filling and emptying angle of repose of wild
0.60
29
0.55
27
Static coefficient of friction

0.50
25
Angle of repose ( )

0.45
o

0.40
23

0.35 21

0.30 19

0.25
17
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Moisture content (% w.b.) 15

0 10 20 30 40

Moisture content (% w.b.)

Fig. 3. Effect of moisture content on coefficient of static friction of: Fig. 4. Effect of moisture content on filling (—) and emptying
a – wild pistachio nuts, b – wild pistachio kernels, against various (– –) angle of repose of porosity of wild pistachio nut (=) and
surfaces: * rubber, × plywood, ¿ fibreglass, ¾glass, and p gal- kernel (<).
vanized iron.
 SOME PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WILD PISTACHIO NUT AND KERNEL 123

pistachio nuts and kernels and moisture content and their Dutta S.K., Nema V.K., and Bhardwaj R.K., 1988. Physical
coefficient of determination (R2) are presented as follows. properties of gram. J. Agric. Eng. Res., 39(4), 259-268.
As it can be found, there was a linear relationships with very Fraser B.M., Verma S.S., and Muir W.E., 1978. Some physical
properties of fababeans. J. Agric. Eng. Res., 23, 53-57.
high correlation between filling emptying angle of repose
Gezer I., Haciseferogullari H., and Demir F., 2002. Some phy-
and moisture content for wild pistachio nut and kernel. sical properties of hacihaliloglu apricot pit and its kernel.
èfn=0.1273 MC+14.857, (R2=0.96), (15) J. Food Eng., 56, 49-57.
Gupta R.K. and Das S.K., 2000. Fracture resistance of sun-
flower seed and kernel to compressive loading. J. Food Eng.,
èfk=0.0740 MC+24.590, (R2=0.95), (16)
46, 1-8.
Hsu R.H., Mannapperuma J.D., and Singh R.P., 1991. Physical
èen=0.1152 MC+23.563, (R2=0.97), (17)
and thermal properties of pistachios. J. Agric. Eng. Res., 49,
311-321.
èek=0.1032 MC+24760, (R2=0.94). (18) Jain R.K. and Bal S., 1997. Physical properties of pearl millet.
J. Agric. Eng. Res., 66, 85–91.
CONCLUSIONS Jha S.N., and Prasad S., 1993. Physical and thermal properties of
gorgon nut. J. Food Proc. Eng., 16, 237-245.
The following conclusions are drawn from the investi- Joshi D.C., Das S.K., and Mukherjee R.K., 1993. Physical
gation on physical and mechanical properties of wild pista- properties of pumpkin seeds. J. Agric. Eng. Res., 54(3),
chio nuts and kernels for four moisture content ranges of 219-229.
5.83 to 31.15 and 6.03 to 30.73% w.b., respectively: Kaleemullah S., and Gunasekar J.J., 2002. Moisture-depended
1. The average length, width and thickness, arithmetic physical properties of arecanut kernels. Biosystems Eng.,
and geometric mean diameter of wild pistachio nuts at 82, 331-338.
5.83% moisture content (w.b.) were 13.98, 8.76, 7.25, 9.93 Karababa E., 2006. Physical properties of popcorn kernels.
and 9.75 mm, while the corresponding values of kernels at J. Food Eng., 72, 100-107.
6.03% moisture content were 11.07, 5.92, 4.83, 7.21 and Kashaninejad M., Mortazavi A., Safekordi A., and Tabil L.G.,
2005. Some physical properties of pistachio (Pistacia vera
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kernel increased with increase in moisture content, while characteristic of walnut. Biosystems Eng., 87, 305-311.
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