Evaluation and Determination of Tensile Force of Saffron Flower for Mechanical Harvesting

Abstract

According to the production of more than 90% of saffron in Iran, any study in order to progress in the field of mechanical harvesting and increase the quality of this product, seems to be logical and economical. Mechanical harvesting of saffron is needed to determine the required force for picking. Therefore, picking force of flowers was carried out in three different fields. In each field, the measurement was performed for 10 flowers by appropriateequipment. The results showed that the average force required for picking the flowers which was around 0.8N. Picking force for saffron leaves were performed in three replications in the fields for 2 and 6 years. The results showed that the force depended on several factors: the type of irrigation water, soil type and saffron farm life. Average tensile force in the second year and in the sixth year was about of 3N and 8N.