NONDESTRUCTIVE MICROWAVE MEASUREMENT OF MOISTURE-CONTENT AND MASS OF SINGLE PEANUT KERNELS

Principles for determining moisture content and mass of individual pea nut kernels by microwave resonator measurements are discussed, and dat a are presented showing the application of these principles. By measur ing the shift in the resonant frequency and the change in the cavity t ransmission characteristics when a peanut is inserted into the cavity, it is possible to obtain the moisture content of the kernel independe nt of its mass and apparently independent of peanut type, as far as Ru nner and Virginia market types are concerned. It is also possible to d etermine the kernel mass independent of kernel shape simultaneously wi th the moisture determination. Moisture contents in the range from 4 t o 14%, wet basis, were determined with an uncertainty of 0.9% moisture , and the uncertainty in the mass determination was less than 0.05 g.