Research in Agricultural Engineering, 2019 (vol. 65), issue 4
Evaluation of a manual olive fruit harvester for small producersOriginal Paper
Eddy Plasquy, Rafael R. Sola-Guiraldo, María del Carmen Florido, José M. García, Gregorio Blanco-Roldán
Res. Agr. Eng., 2019, 65(4):105-111 | DOI: 10.17221/18/2019-RAE 
Harvest facilities limit the possibilities of small producers to produce a high-quality olive fruit. This paper discusses the efficiency of a newly designed manual picking device as a possible solution to these specific challenges as confronted in most regions of the Mediterranean basis. The efficiency and cost of the picking method were compared to traditional olive picking using nets, taking a different number of operators and branch shakers into account.
The evaluation of vibration damage in fresh apricots during simulated transportOriginal Paper
Mehdi Khodaei, Sadegh Seiiedlou, Morteza Sadeghi
Res. Agr. Eng., 2019, 65(4):112-122 | DOI: 10.17221/12/2019-RAE
The transportation of fruits over longer distances could lead to damage fruits such as apricots. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of transportation factors including the vibration frequencies (17 and 20 Hz), the vibration time (15 and 30 minutes), the fruit cultivar (Shahroudi and Urdoobad), and the package type (2 types) on the apricot damage. An electro-dynamic lab vibration simulator was used to simulate the road transportation and a fruit damage index (FDI) was used as a criterion to evaluate the damage based on the classifying bruises into five different categories. The statistical analysis indicated that, except for the...
Laser diffraction analysis of purified Descurainia Sophia seeds by a tribo-aero-electrostatic systemOriginal Paper
Mojtaba Afsharipour, Kazem Jafari-Naeimi, Hadi Samimi-Akhijahani
Res. Agr. Eng., 2019, 65(4):123-130 | DOI: 10.17221/48/2018-RAE
In order to separate the impurities in vegetable seeds, a tribo-aero-electrostatic separator was designed and manufactured. The data analysis of the pure Descurainia Sophia seed shows that the interaction of the voltage, distance and angle was significant on the weight of the D. Sophia at the level of 1%. To determine and compare the size of the separated seeds, a laser diffraction device with the possibility of analysing the size distribution of the particles was used. The results showed that the best purity (99.5%) with the highest percentage of the relative frequency of the D. Sophia seeds size was obtained for box 1 (the first...
The physical properties and strength characteristics of kenaf plantsOriginal Paper
Olumide Falana, Olabanjo Aluko, Dare Adetan, Jimmy Osunbitan
Res. Agr. Eng., 2019, 65(4):131-136 | DOI: 10.17221/34/2019-RAE
This article reports some physical properties and strength characteristics of two kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) varieties in Nigeria at critical stages of harvest with a view of understanding the plant material reaction to the load and deformation. The kenaf samples were subjected to a uniaxial compression test between two parallel plates at a loading rate of 20 mm.min-1 and a uniaxial bending test between two supports on each end at a loading rate of 50 mm.min-1 using a Universal Instron Testing Machine (Instron, USA). The results of the parameters studied revealed that Tianung 1 gave the higher stem height, stem diameter,...
Modelling the drying characteristics of the traditional Indonesian crackers "kerupuk"Original Paper
Annisa Kusumaningrum, Dwi Joko Prasetyo, Ervika Rahayu Novita Herawati, Asep Nurhikmat
Res. Agr. Eng., 2019, 65(4):137-144 | DOI: 10.17221/27/2019-RAE
An oven drying method was used to dry traditional Indonesian crackers, popularly known as kerupuk, applying drying temperatures of 50, 60 and 70°C and three different flavours, i.e., garlic, chili and seaweed. Newton, Page, Two terms, Midilli, Logarithmic and Henderson & Pabis mathematical models were used to fit the best model while the standard error of estimate (SSE), root mean square error (RMSE) and coefficient of correlation (r) were chosen as the criteria to determine the equation of the best fit drying model. The Midilli model was the best fit for all the kerupuk flavours. The effective moisture diffusivity was in the range of 1.0413 ×...