Effect of physical properties on the specific heat preserved ground sheanut kernel (BUTYROSPERNUMPARADOXUM)

Abstract

Most agricultural materials undergo various forms of preservation in order to enhance shelf life. Sheanut is usually preserved by heating the kernels over fire in a pot for a time period. This affects its properties especially during heat processing. It is expected that this work will provide information that would help optimize such processing. Preserved sheanut kernel samples sourced locally were prepared by manually cleaning, sorting, grinding and sieving to obtain desired particle sizes. The specific heat of the samples were evaluated as a function of particle size (2.36 mm), (1.18 mm and 1.00 mm), moisture content (initial moisture content, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% db) and temperature (50oC, 60oC, 70oC, 80oC, and 90oC). The specific heat of each particle size increased with increase in moisture content and varied with temperature with values in the range of 2674 to 4114.67, 1952.08 to 4401.82, and 2429.05 to 4343.87 J/kgoC for P1, P2 and P3 respectively. It was observed that the effect of moisture content was greater than both particle size and temperature. The relationships that existed between specific heat and the observed variables were best described by trinomial model equations with attendant (R2) values. Application of these equations will aid in predicting the specific heat of ground preserved sheanut samples as a function of the observed variables.