The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of moisture content and wheat variety on some engineering properties of wheat grain widely cultivated in India. In the present investigation, three varieties of wheat namely MP-1106, UP-2554 and WH-542 with moisture content ranging from 8 – 14% (w.b) were selected. The length, width and thickness of wheat varieties were in the range of 5.19 (UP- 2554) to 6.80mm (WH-542), 2.68 (MP-1106) to 3.65mm (UP-2554) and 2.30 (WH-542) to 2.96mm (MP-1106) respectively. Principal component analysis showed that porosity, true density, angle of repose and thousand kernel weight were positively correlated with the increase in moisture content, whereas bulk density, hardness and initial cracking force were negatively correlated. Data on flow properties indicated that wheat of low moisture content will have better flow characteristics. The data obtained will be very useful in evolving design for storage bins and post-harvest equipment.

Keywords: Wheat, Moisture content, correlation matrix, physical properties.