Physical Attributes of Garlic (Allium sativum L.)

Some physical attributes of two common types of Iranian garlic cloves (white and pink) were identified and compared. A machine vision system was used to determine three di-mensions and both major and minor projected areas of garlic cloves at a moisture content of 42.4% w. b. The geometric mean diameter and sphericity were calculated, as well as the unit mass and volume of cloves were measured. In the moisture range from 34.9 to 56.7% w.b., the unit density, bulk density and porosity for both types were measured. Re-sults showed that the unit density, bulk density and porosity of cloves were affected sig-nificantly by moisture content (p<0.01). The type of garlic had a highly significant effect on the unit density and porosity (P<0.01), and a significant effect on the bulk density (P<0.05). The relationship between volume and dimensions of cloves was established using regression analysis. The effect of moisture content on physical properties of cloves was also expressed by appropriate equations.