Physical Profiling of Mimusops elengi Fruit for Post-Harvest Applications

Abstract

An evaluation was conducted the engineering properties of Mimusopselengi in its fresh, dried, and rehydrated forms. To determine the physical characteristics of the bakul fruit in several states: fresh, dried, and rehydrated. The assessment included measurements of average length, breadth, thickness, geometric mean diameter, sphericity index, surface area, bulk density, true density, and porosity. These measurements were taken at different moisture levels, specifically 63.39 % (fresh), 9.65 % (dried), and 53 % (rehydrate).  The main outcomes of this study can be briefly described as follows: The length of T1, T2, and T3 ranged from 22.95 mm to 21.30 mm, the width ranged from 11.51 mm to 10.18 mm, and the thickness ranged from 14.15 mm to 13.28 mm. The values for the arithmetic mean, sphericity, aspect ratio, surface area, frontal surface area, and projected area are also determined. These findings will be utilized as a reference for designing and developing postharvest machinery, namely extraction equipment for bakul fruit.