Basic physical properties of food crops that are often required in order to design production processes. equipment and evaluation of the effect of processing on nutrients were determined for African star apple seeds, at a moisture contents of 8.49% (dry basis). The average seed longitudinal, transverse and thickness dimensions were 24.1, 14.7 and 8.30 mm, respectively. True density, bulk density and density ratio were 972.88, 499.61 kg m(-3) and 51.58% respectively. However, static friction varied on three different surfaces from 0.38 to 0.51, while the angle of repose ranged from 13.01degrees to 14.69degrees. The specific heat of the whole seed and kernel were 129.40 and 155.08 kJ kg(-1) K-1 respectively at 80 degreesC. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.