Abstract

Ginger is a plant recently gaining attention in the food and pharmaceutical industries because of its spice and medicinal importance. Major post-harvest processing of ginger is being carried out locally in West Africa and Nigeria due to the unavailability of information on the engineering properties including physical, mechanical, thermal and optical properties which are the main considerations in the design of machines for post-harvest handling of crops. The research looked at some physical properties of ginger (Zingiber officinale) rhizomes such as major, minor and intermediate diameters, geometric mean, sphere city, bulk volume, bulk density, surface area, angle of repose and the coefficient of friction which are essential in the design and construction of the processing and handling equipment of Zingiber officinale. The properties were determined using ASAE standards. The average value obtained for major diameter, minor diameter, intermediate diameter, geometric mean, sphere city, bulk volume, surface area, bulk density and angle of repose within the moisture content range of 10.9 % and 51.6 % dry basis are 112 mm, 38.3 mm, 72.3 mm, 67.6 mm, 0.61, 832.5 cm3, 147 cm2, 0.92 g/cm3, 480 respectively. The coefficient of friction was obtained on three different structural materials, the values obtained are: 0.40 on glass, 0.49 on stainless steel and 0.55 on wood. All the physical properties measured showed some deviations from the average values which is typical of biomaterials. The physical properties increase with an increase in the moisture content except the sphere city and bulk density which decrease as the moisture content increases.