SOME PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF APRICOT PITS

The physical properties of apricot pits and apricot kernel are necessary for the design of equipments for processing, transportation, sorting, and breaking. In this study, some physical properties of pits and kernels were evaluated as function of moisture content varying from 8 to 19 % for apricot pits and 24 % for apricot kernels.  Apricot pits, in this moisture range, pit length, width, thickness and geometric diameter increased from ( 20.81 to 22.53 mm), ( 17.44 to 18.02 mm), (11.38 to 11.66 mm) and ( 15.9 to 16.1 mm ), respectively, the projected area increased from 2.90 to 3.21 cm2, the porosity increased from 49 to 58 %,the volume increased from 0.16 to 0.17cm3, the mass increased from 1.75 to 1.84 g, bulk and true densities increased from 507 to 570 kg/m3 and 1020 to 1160 kg/m3 respectively, the rupture force of apricot pits decreased from ( 1397.9 to 581..4 N), ( 1177.2 to 341.97 N ) and ( 632.94 to186.39 N ) at X, Y and Z axes respectively, the angle of repose increased from 32.6 to 40.49o and the coefficient of static friction increased from ( 0.41 to 0.77 ), (0.65 to 0.80 ),( 0.43 to 0.55 ), (0.40 to 0.51 ) and ( 0.22 to 0.26 ) for cardboard, rubber, wood, iron and glass respectively. The apricot kernels, dimension properties (length, width and thickness) were 15.29, 10.41 and 5.27 mm respectively, the mass was 0.48 g, the volume was 0.62 cm3, the bulk and true densities were 497 and 840 kg/m3 respectively, the geometric diameter was 9.32 mm, the sphercity was 59 % and the porosity was 42%.