Effects of storage conditions on mechanical properties of soybean

In this paper, soybeans were respectively stored in 60, 90, 120 and 150 days under the temperature of 20, 25 and 30°C with the moisture content of 12.0%, 13.5% and 15.0% wb. The maximum compressive force, compressive energy and compressive strain to damage soybean, the maximum under different storage temperatures, moisture contents and storage time were measured by the Brookfield Texture Analyzer. The experimental results show when storage time is 60 days, storage temperature range from 20 to 30°C and moisture range from 12.0 to 15.0% w.b, the maximum compressive force, compressive energy and compressive strain to damage soybean respectively are 106.85~90.19 N, 160.80~108.92 mJ and 0.356~0.412; when storage time is 150 days, storage temperature range is from 20 to 30°C, moisture range from 12.0 to 15.0% w.b; the maximum compressive force, compressive energy and compressive strain to damage soybean respectively are 99.19~81.50 N, 113.01~90.52 mJ and 0.439~0.472. It was observed that the maximum compressive force and energy to damage soybean will decrease with increasing moisture content, but the maximum compressive strain to damage soybean increases with the increase of moisture content in the same storage temperature and time; in the same storage condition of moisture content and time, the maximum compressive force and energy to damage soybean will decrease with increasing storage temperature, however, the maximum compressive strain to damage soybean increased with the increase of storage temperature; besides, in the same storage condition of temperature and moisture content, the maximum compressive force and the maximum compressive energy to damage soybean decreased with increasing storage time, yet the maximum compressive strain to damage soybean increased with the storage time increasing.