DETERMINATION OF SELECTED PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH MOISTURE CONTENT FOR MILLET (PENNISETUM GLAUCUM L.)

Abstract

Selected physical properties of millet crop (Pennisetum glaucum L.) such as kernel volume, length, width,thickness, geometric mean diameter, surface area, sphericity, roundness, angle of repose, thousand kernel weight (TKW),specific gravity, bulk density, and porosity were determined as a function of moisture content.<br><br>Kernel volume and other dimensions such as length, width, thickness, and geometric mean diameter vary linearly and aredirectly proportional with the grain moisture content (ranging between 7.5% and 21.2% wet basis). A comparative evaluationof two varieties of millet (Ex-Borno and Zango) for the above properties revealed that only the difference in the means ofsurface area, specific gravity, and grain density were not statistically significant at the 5% level of significance, while thedifference with the other properties such as length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, volume, sphericity, roundness,angle of repose, thousand kernel weight, bulk density, and porosity were statistically significant at the 5% level. Correlationcoefficients between 76% and 95% were obtained with the relationship between moisture content and grain length, width,geometric mean diameter, and grain volume for both varieties of millet.