Effects of moisture content and compression positions on mechanical properties of carob pod (Ceratonia siliqua L.)

Mechanical properties should be investigated for the harvest and post harvest operations of carob pod which is the fruit of carob trees (Ceratonia siliqua L.). These properties are pre-requisite for the design and development of harvesting, transportation, storage, and grinding machines used for carob pod. In this study, rupture force, bioyield force, rupture deformation, bioyield deformation, modulus of elasticity and rupture energy were determined for carob pod as functions of moisture content at four different levels of 8.3, 13.2, 14.1, 16.8% wet basis (w.b.) and compression positions of Horizantal1 (H1), Horizantal2 (H2), Vertical1 (V1), and Vertical2 (V2). The biological material test device was used to measure the mechanical properties of carob pod. Results showed that rupture force, bioyield force, modulus of elasticity and rupture energy decreased with increase in moisture content of carob pod. The rupture force ranged from 101.0 to 197.0 N while the bioyield force varies between 84.0 and 159.0 N. The modulus of elasticity changed between 22.5 and 43.8 N mm-2. The range of the rupture energy calculated was between 268 and 419 J. The results showed that rupture force measured at the horizontal positions (H1 and H2) were higher than that of the vertical positions (V1 and V2).