LABORATORY REPORT OF ANALYSIS BIOMOLECULES BCH3201

i. Experiment no.: 1
ii. Title:DETERMINATION OF MOISTURE CONTENT
iii. Group no.: 6
iv. Group members name who attended the laboratory practical:

1. Nazmin Shahrul Zaman 168242

2. Nadia Izati Fadzil 169240
3. Siti Hajar Sulong 169014
4. Nurul Aida Muhammad Asri 167980
5. Nur Aliah Musa 169953

v. Absentees and a member who did not contribute in the preparation of the report needs
to be committed:
vi. Date: 19/9/2013
vii. Lecturer’s Name: Dr. Mohammed Nazrim Marikkar
viii. Demonstrator’s Name: 1) Norshakilla Musa
2) Siti Farhanie Mohd Fuzi
3) Norhayati Yaacob
INTRODUCTION

Moisture content is one of the most commonly measured properties of food materials. It is
important to food manufactures for a number of different reasons which are legal and labelling
requirements, economics, microbial stability, food quality and food processing operation. It is
therefore important for food scientists to be able to reliably measure moisture contents. A number
of analytical techniques have been developed for this purpose, which vary in their accuracy, cost,
speed, sensitivity, specificity, ease of operation, etc. The choice of an analytical procedure for a
particular application depends on the nature of the food being analysed and the reason the
information is needed. The objectives of the experiment are to comprehend the importance of
determining the moisture content of food or any other biomaterials, to understand the importance
of moisture in food preservation and compositional analyses and lastly to collect analyse and
evaluate the experimental data.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Materials:

Tempeh(sample) with known weight are dried in an oven at 105oc to constant weight, and the loss of
weight is used to calculate the moisture content of the sample.

Apparatus:

 Petri dish
 Vacuum oven at 101oc -105oc
 Analytical balance, 0.1 mg sensitivity
 Dessicator
 Pairs of Tongs
 Spatula

Methods:

1. The vacuum oven temperature was set to 105oc and the temperature kept constant.
2. The petri dish and its cover was cleaned and dried in the oven for minimum of 30 minutes.
3. After 30 minutes, the petri dish and its cover was removed and cooled in dessicator until
they reached room temperature (approximately 20 minutes)
4. The petri dish and its cover was placed on a balance and weighed rapidly and accurately.
5. The petri dish and its cover was return in the dessicator.
6. 2-5 g of the tempeh(sample) was weighed into petri dish mentioned above accurately.
7. The petri dish together with the cover and tempeh(sample) was placed into the oven and
left for at least 2 hours.
8. The uncovered petri dish was took out using tongs and placed directly in the dessicator.
9. After cooled, the petri dish with covered and tempeh(sample) was weighted.
10. Step 9 was repeated until the constant weight gained.
RESULTS

1st sample /g 2nd sample /g

Weight of dish 64.84 85.37
Weight of sample 2.04 2.06
Initial weight 66.88 87.43
1st 2nd Average 1st 2nd Average
reading reading reading reading
Weight of 1st time 66.22 66.22 66.22 86.78 86.79 86.785
dish+cover+sample 2nd time 66.23 66.24 66.235 86.78 86.79 86.785
3rd time 66.25 66.24 66.245 86.78 86.77 86.775
Average 66.233 86.782
Average Final 76.5075

The moisture content of the sample is calculated using the following equation:

% Wt = (A-B) X 100
A
Where :
% Wt = Percentage of moisture in the sample
A = Weight of wet sample
B = Weight of dry sample

Moisture content in 1st sample:

% Wt = (66.88-66.233) x 100
66.88

= 0.9674%

Moisture content in 2nd sample:

% Wt = (87.43-86.782)x100
87.43

= 0.7412%

Standard deviation from the experiment result:

1
SN = √2 [(66.233 − 76.5075)]2 + (86.782 − 76.5075)2 ]

= 10.2745
DISCUSSION

Vacuum oven drying method is widely used in determination of moisture. Water is removed due
heating at 105oc . Loss of weight due to vaporisation of water is taken as weight of moisture. The
moisture content which result from the vacuum oven drying method depends on the type of food
stuff used. The determination of moisture in a food is done for many purposes such as assessment of
quality, quality control, quality assurance , detection and assimilation of adulteration , conformity
with food standard and other statutory requirement , calculation of total food solid content,
assessment of stability , shelf life and storage life.
During the experiment, tempeh was used as the sample since it is well-known as a fermented
product made from soybean that have been soaked and cooked to soften them. During the making
of tempeh , tempeh starter or also called power tempeh starter (PTS) was used. It is a dried mixture
of live Rhizopus spore with substrate, which can be soybeans or rice. Rhizopus is a genus of mold
that is found in soil and plant material. Dark zygospores are produced after two compatible mycelia
fuse during reproduction and produce colonies that may be genetically different from their parent.
Two Rhizopus species are used in tempeh stater that are Rhizopus Oligosporus and Rhizopus Oryzae.
Starter are required to push the process in the desired direction. Moreover, the fermentation of
tempeh will help to neutralize the phytate acid present in the soybeans so that tempeh does not
restrict the body’s absorption of minerals. Tempeh provides the staple food for large population in
Indonesia and Malaysia. Soybeans are the primary ingredients in many processes foods, including
dairy product substitutes. It is commonly consumed by poor masses of many countries and it forms a
major sources of protein and calories. Tempeh is a low cost nutritious food and can consume by all
socio-economic groups.
While handling the tempeh in the experiment we can observed the tempeh weight and covered
petri dish decline from 66.88 to 66.233 in sample 1 and from 87.43 to 86.782 in sample 2. This
showed that during the heating process there is release of moisture from the tempeh(sample). The
accuracy of the result of moisture determination is affected by drying temperature, relative humidity
particle size of tempeh(sample), handling method of sample , amount of sample, type of evaporation
dish, variation in temperature inside the oven. To minimize these errors, various precautions should
be taken.
During the experiment, we encounted some experimental errors which are the duration of petri dish
in dessicator that does not meet the actual time requirement, we did not cut the tempeh into small
pieces, we did not open the cover of petri dish while putting the sample in the vacuum oven.
Therefore, to enhance the experiment results some precautions need to be follow. Firstly, we must
ensure the petri dish in dessicator with enough duration of time to totally removed moisture in petri
dish, then the size of tempeh should be in small slices to increases the surface area for the moisture
in tempeh(sample) go off easily. Next , the most important is to keep the cover of petri dish opened
during the heating process so that the moisture would not trapped in the petri dish and affect the
dry weight of tempeh. In addition, we also need to ensure the weight of the two sample of tempeh
just slightly same and make sure the petri dish fully cooled in dessicator before weight.
While handled this experiment we can observed why moisture determination is so important in food
analysis because it help in food standard, adulteration issues, microbial stability and food quality. It
is a legal and labelling requirements to indicate moisture contents of foods since there are legal
limits to the maximum or minimum amount of water that must be present in a certain types of food.
In food quality control, adulteration issues helps greatly because manufacturers often try to
incorporate water as much as possible in a food. Moreover, in food preservation,microbial stability
greatly helps to maintain microbial stability since many foods are maintained below some critical
moisture content for longer shelf-life. Moisture also helps to maintain the food quality because the
texture , taste , appearance and stability of foods depends on the amount of water they contain. In
foods, there are bound water and unbound water. The different between them are bound water is
the water that available as solvent in food system. This water retains its physical properties and thus
acts as the dispersing agents for colloids and solvent for salts, while unbound water is the water that
unavailable as a solvent and does not freeze. This water is held tightly in cell wall or protoplasm and
held tightly to proteins. During the experiment, there are some sampling precautions could avoid
errors in moisture determination. Firstly is to minimize moisture loss or moisture gain this is
experiment because when determining the moisture content of a food sample ,it is important to
prevent any loss or gain of moisture since moisture loss may be possible due to grinding procedures
and moisture gain may be possible due to hygroscopic properties. Lastly, during the experiment,
vacuum oven was used instead of forced draft oven for moisture determination because there is an
inlet and outlet to carry the moisture lost from the sample out of the vacuum oven, which prevents
the accumulation of moisture within the oven compared to the forced draft oven that might cause
chemical changes in tempeh(sample) under high temperature so that we can conclude that the
forced draft ovenshould not be used.

CONCLUSION

The percentage moisture of tempeh(sample) are 0.9674% in sample 1 and 0.7412% in sample 2
based on the comparison due to our understanding in collect, analysing and evaluate the
experimental data based on the comparison between two sample of tempeh.

REFERENCES

1. Astuti, M. , A.Meliala ,F.S.Dalais and M.L Wahlqvist, 2000.Tempe, a nutritious and healthy
food from Indonesia.Asia Pasific Journal of Clinical Nitrition,9:322-325
2. http://www.tempeh.info/starter/what-is-tempeh-starter.php
3. http://www.ift.org/Knowledge-Center/Learn-About-Food-Science/K12-Outreach/Food-
Science-
Experiments/~/media/Knowledge%20Center/Learn%20Food%20Science/Microbiology%20E
xperiments/TeacherGuideTempeh.ashx
4. http://www.scribd.com/doc/24474810/Determination-of-Moisture-Content

APPENDIX

Pictures before and after drying process of tempeh(sample).

Sample 1 Sample 1

Sample 2 Sample 2

BEFORE AFTER