Some physical properties of sugarbeet seed

Various physical properties of sugarbeet seed were determined as a function of moisture content. The lengths of the major, medium and minor axes varied from 4.61 to 5.30, 3.82 to 4.36 and 2.20 to 2.38 mm, respectively, as the moisture content increased from 8.4 to 14.0% d.b. In the same moisture range, the arithmetic and geometric mean diameters increased from 3.54 to 4.02 and 3.38 to 3.80 mm, respectively. Studies on rewetted sugarbeet seed showed that the sphericity decreased from 0.734 to 0.717, whereas thousand seed mass and projected area increased from 12.60 to 13.41 g and 12.1 to 15.6 mm2, respectively, with increase in moisture content from 8.4 to 14.0% d.b. The bulk density, true density and porosity decreased from 447 to 418 kg m−3, 962 to 851 kg m−3 and 53.6 to 50.9%, whereas terminal velocity and angle of repose increased from 5.6 to 6.6 ms−1 and 17.6 to 25.0°, respectively, as the moisture content increased from 8.39 to 14.00% d.b. The static coefficient of friction increased on four structural surfaces namely, rubber (0.687-0.790), plywood (0.480-0.608), galvanised metal (0.392-0.434) and aluminium (0.279-0.388) in the moisture range from 8.4 to 14.0% d.b.