PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WHEAT GRAINS

Physical characteristics of wheat grains of three varieties, Giza-168, Sakha-93 (white wheat) and Banisuife-1 (durum) at different levels of moisture contents (% w.b) were investigated. Physical characteristics included dimensions, spherisity, weight of one thousand grains, particle and bulk density, porosity, angle of repose and static coefficient of friction on four different surfaces (plywood, galvanized iron, stainless-steel and rubber-sheet) at four different levels of moisture content ranged from (9 to 18% w.b). Each of major dimensions, spherisity, weight of one thousand grains, dynamic angle of repose and static coefficient of friction appeared a linear increasing with increasing the moisture content, while both bulk and particle densities decreased linearly in the studied range. As for porosity of wheat grains of Giza-168 and Banisuife-1, it increased linearly with increasing grains moisture content while the porosity of Sakha-93 variety showed a negative relationship.