DETERMINATION OF PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CRAMBE FRUITS DURING DRYING

The Knowledge of the physical properties of agricultural products has great importance for the construction and operation of equipment for drying and storage, to achieve increased efficiency in post-harvest operations. The aim was to determine and analyze the physical properties of crambe fruits during drying at different temperatures. Crambe fruits with an initial moisture content of 0.36 (decimal d. b.) which was reduced by drying at 37.0; 58.8 and 83.5 degrees C and relative humidity of 29.4; 11.2 and 3.2%, respectively, to 0.09 +/- 1 (decimal d. b.). At different levels of moisture contents (0.36; 0.31; 0.26; 0.21; 0.17; 0.13 and 0.09 decimal d. b.), was evaluated the intergranular porosity, the bulk density, the true density as well as the volumetric shrinkage and the fruit mass. The study was installed by the factorial 3 x 7, and three drying temperatures and seven moisture contents in a randomized design. Data were analyzed using regression. The bulk density and the true density decreases along the drying process; the volumetric shrinkage and the mass increased with lower moisture content and the intergranular porosity decreased sharply with the increasing drying temperature.