Influences of moisture content and grain position of rice panicle on the tensile force in separating processes of Phitsanulok-2, Khao Dawk Mali 105 and RD-6 rice varieties

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine the influences of moisture content and grain position of rice panicle on the tensile force in separating processes of 3 Thai’s rice varieties; Phitsanulok-2, Khao Dawk Mali 105 (KDML-105) and RD-6. The study was divided into 3 experiments according to the variety. The experiment 1 it was a study on the 5 levels of moisture content of Phitsanulok-2. Also, 6 levels of the moisture content were investigated in the experiment 2 for KDML-105. Lastly, 7 levels of the moisture content were considered in the experiment 3 for RD-6. Moreover, the tensile forces were measured at 3 grain positions of the panicle that were lower, middle and upper for all experiments. The results show that the increasing of moisture content can improve tensile force for all experiments. Likewise, the moisture content and the panicle position had significantly affected to the tensile force. However, there was no interaction between the moisture content and the panicle position on the tensile force. Additionally, the moisture contents of Phitsanulok-2 varied from 12.72 to 37.43 % w.b and the average values for tensile force ranged from 1.07 to 1.64 N. The moisture contents of KDML-105 were between 11.77 to 38.36 % w.b. and the average values for tensile force varied from 0.95 to 1.47 N. The moisture contents of RD-6 were between 13.54 to 38.98 % w.b. and the average values for tensile force ranged from 1.02 to 1.63 N. Moreover, the highest tensile force and the lowest tensile force were discovered at the lower and upper grain position for all experiments.