African yam bean (AYB) is a legume that is normally cultivated in small scale and has not been sufficiently utilized. Some physical properties of this crop were examined. The results indicated that the mean values for length, width and thickness were determined as 9.68, 6.99 and 7.26 mm, respectively for the seeds and 297.9, 10.36 and 8.98 mm, respectively for unthreshed pods. The bean is close to being a sphere with mean spherecity of 0.79. This mean that the material will always tend to roll when placed on an angle on a plane surface. The angle of friction on three different material surfaces varied from 17.9 to 19.2° for seeds and 34.8 to 42° for pods. The solid density and seed mass were 1.16 g/cm3 and 0.57 g for seed and 0.32 g/cm3 and 8.86 g, for pod, respectively. The study showed that there is no much variations in the mean physical parameters of the seeds and pods of the African yam bean investigated.

Keywords: African yam bean, physical properties