Effect of Moisture Content on Physical and Chemical Properties of Two Lentil Varieties Grown in IRAN

In this study, physical and nutritional properties of two lentil varieties (red and green) cultivated in Iran, were determined. Physical properties such as linear dimensions, arithmetic and geometric diameter, one thousand seed mass, sphericity, surface area, true and bulk densities, porosity, repose angle and static coefficient of friction, were evaluated at the moisture content of 9.5 to 21.1% (w.b.). Also, nutritional properties such as ash, crude protein, oil, starch and some minerals i.e. K, P, Ca, Mg, Na, Mn, Fe, Zn and Cu contents of samples were investigated. The present study indicated that twolentil varieties were significantly different in most of the measured characteristics. These differences could be attributed to the individual characteristics of these varieties and environmental and cultivation conditions. Therefore, determining the physical and nutritional properties of lentil is necessary to design most of the processing machinery.