ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF SOME INDIAN ONION CULTIVARS

S.K. KARTHIK¹*, SATISHKUMAR², V. PALANIMUTTU^3
1College of Agriucltural Engineering, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Sangareddy, 502001
²AICRP on PHET, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560 065
³AICRP on PHET, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore, 560 065
* Corresponding Author : sudukaru@gmail.com

Received : 01-04-2016     Accepted : 30-04-2016     Published : 21-08-2016
Volume : 8     Issue : 29       Pages : 1613 - 1617
Int J Agr Sci 8.29 (2016):1613-1617

Keywords : Onion, physical, mechanical properties
Academic Editor : M. S. Shalini Sharma
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : None declared
Author Contribution : None declared

Onion (Allium cepa, L.)is an economically important vegetable often used as a spice and medical properties contains many essential vitamins and mineral which are necessary for the human health. The three popular onion varieties in Karnataka, India viz., Satara Garva, Arka Kalyan and Bangalore rose onion were selected for the study. Physical, frictional and mechanical properties of onion bulbs measured and calculated. The physical properties viz., unit mass of the bulbs ranged between 10.28 ± 2.74 to 66.16 ± 18.33 mm, bulb polar diameter ranged between 29.07 ± 3.31 to 47.23 ± 5.34, equatorial diameter ranged between 28.88 ± 3.15 to 54.54 ± 5.30 mm, geometric mean diameter ranged between 28.38 ± 2.62 to 51.18 ± 4.22 mm, transverse diameter ranged between 27.43 to 52.35 mm, shape index of bulbs ranged between 1.03 to 1.10. Based on the result obtained by the experiment the shape index of all three selected cultivars was found to be spherical in shape. The true density of bulbs was ranged between 906.2 to 1014.8 kg/m3, bulk density of bulbs ranged between 589.63 to 621.30 kg/m3. The frictional properties like co-efficient of static friction of bulbs on different surface of materials like plywood, galvanized iron sheet, mild steel sheet and plastic surface were found in the range of 0.27 to 0.31, 0.31 to 0.32, 0.30 to 0.33 and 0.20 to 0.24. The average compressive strength (hardness) of onion bulbs of selected onion varieties was found in the range of 2702.81 to 4262.75 gf, respectively.