10/7/2019 Determining Moisture Content - Food Quality & Safety

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Determining Moisture Content

February 3, 2017 • By Yvonne Appoldt and Gina Raihani

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Moisture content influences the taste, texture, weight,

appearance, and shelf life of foodstuffs. Even a slight
deviation from a defined standard can adversely impact
the physical properties of a food material. For example,
substances which are too dry could affect the
consistency of the end product. Conversely, excess
moisture may cause food material to agglomerate or
Credit: METTLER TOLEDO become trapped in the piping systems during
production. Also, the rate of microbial growth increases
with total water content, possibly resulting in spoiled batches that need to be disposed of. However,
water is also an inexpensive ingredient adding to the weight of the final product. Hence, obtaining an
optimal analytical value for moisture is of great economic importance to a food manufacturer. For
these reasons, food analysts engage in the delicate balancing of moisture and total solids to ensure
consistent product quality, safety, and profitability.

Get Paid For Your Legal Requirements

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International and national standards define the permitted thresholds

Wiley (Food Quality &
Safety’s publisher) is for moisture content in commercially sold products. Regulatory bodies
offering $200 to such as the BRC (British Retail Consortium), IFS (International Featured
qualified food Standards), or GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) heavily influence the
scientists who production, processing, and sale of foods. For food manufacturers, this
participate in research translates into increased workload around quality assurance and the
interviews about
development of efficient and cost-effective solutions. According to the
challenges facing the
stated legal requirements, methods of analysis and procedures must be
food industry.
clearly described and tested. Many food producers themselves have
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strict criteria for measurement accuracy, reliability, and traceability to
ensure the consistent quality of their products. These standard
operating procedures encompass the entire measurement process,
including sample volume, number of required measurements, maximum tolerable deviation, and
procedures for correcting errors.

Water Properties in Food

As mentioned in chapter 6 of Food Analysis by S. Suzanne Nielsen, official methods and procedures for
moisture analysis are important since the method used to determine moisture may lead to varying
results for moisture content, depending on the form of the water present in a food. In the simplest
scenario, water retains its properties by existing “freely,” i.e. it is only surrounded by other water
molecules. Free water (also known as bulk water) can be adsorbed on surface particles, held in narrow
capillaries, or stored in the pore systems deep within the food material. For instance, dried fruit or
meats have complex cellular structures where water is bound by adsorption to the surface or
transported deep within the cells by capillary action. Adsorbed water can also become physically
bound to other elements present in the food material such as proteins, or exist as chemically bound
water (e.g. certain salts such as Na2SO4·10H2O). In a bound state with other molecules, water most
often evaporates at a higher temperature compared to free water molecules. Consequently, physically
or chemically bound water takes on varying physicochemical properties, making it very challenging for
the food analyst to accurately measure the moisture content.

Technologies for Moisture Analysis

A summary of technologies used for moisture determination are listed below.

Thermogravimetric analysis (oven drying, halogen/IR drying, microwave drying, etc.)

Chemical analysis (Karl Fischer titration, calcium carbide testing)
Spectroscopic analysis (IR spectroscopy, microwave spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic
resonance spectroscopy)

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Other (e.g. gas chromatography, density determination, refractometry, etc.)

This article focuses on thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Moisture content is derived from the loss of
product weight during drying by measuring the change in mass of a sample while being heated at a
controlled rate until no more change in weight is observed.

Balance and Drying Oven

The drying oven, commonly used for commercial purposes, is the established reference method for
loss on drying (LoD) by TGA. In this procedure, a sample is weighed and subsequently heated to allow
for the release of moisture. Following this, the sample is cooled in the desiccator before reweighing.
Moisture content is calculated by the difference in wet and dry weight. In this process, measuring
accuracy and the resolution of the balance are extremely important. Careful consideration must also
be given to maintain identical conditions, where temperature and duration are vital for generating
precise and reproducible results.

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Filed Under: In the Lab, Measurement, Physical Properties

Tagged With: Food Quality, Food Safety, moisture, moisture content, Moisture Content Analysis
Issue: February/March 2017

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Comments

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10/7/2019 Determining Moisture Content - Food Quality & Safety

Thikshani says
February 13, 2017 at 9:49 pm

A good informative review!

Reply

Martin says
May 13, 2017 at 4:12 am

woow, this is awesome… let me now get my food analysis report done.

Reply

aya shalaby says

April 23, 2018 at 8:55 am

HELLO,
we are interested in dry oven.
could you send me more details,please.

Reply

Marian Zboraj says

April 25, 2018 at 1:01 pm

Hi Aya, feel free to reach out to the authors of the article using the email provided in the
bio at end for more information. Thanks!

Reply

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Mr Festus says
May 14, 2018 at 12:34 pm

Highly infomative content thank

Mr Festus

Reply

Pitt Chao says

December 4, 2018 at 7:55 pm

The rapid moisture analyzer definition refers to an instrument for measuring the moisture
content of substances. The halogen lamp heating method and so on. Halogen moisture
analyser is widely used in industries that require rapid moisture determination, such as
medicine, grain, seed, chemical, tea, and textile. It might provide you with some help.

Reply

Toufiqur Rahman says

August 24, 2019 at 11:18 am

if we add harmful chemical in food, what would be the change of moisture level?

Reply

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