Discussion Lab 1

Oven drying method is widely used in determination of moisture. Water is removed

dueto heating at 105 °C. Loss of weight due to vaporization of water is taken as
weight ofmoisture. But spices like cinnamon contain volatile oil in addition to
moisture and thesevolatile oils also get loss during oven drying. Due to this the
weight loss due to the loss ofvolatile oils also gets counted for moisture
determination. This is the main disadvantageof oven drying method. This method is
not suitable to determine the moisture content of thermally unstable compounds
and this method removes only free water. Since ovendrying method is simple, low
cost and easy, it is widely used for routine analysis.

The accuracy of results of moisture determination is affected by, drying

temperature,relative humidity, particle size of sample, handling method of sample,
amount of sample,type of evaporation dish, variation in temperature inside the oven.
To minimize theseerrors various precautions should be taken. i.e. sample should be
dried in stainless steelcontainers, which is not decompose during heating. Three
consecutive samples werecarried out to eliminate the errors of the handlers, usually
5 g of ground sample was takento facilitate the drying, and this encourages the
evaporation because particle size is small.

Heated samples and beakers, or weighing dish, are cooled in a desiccator to prevent
the sample or beaker from gathering moisture as it cools. The interior of the
desiccator is dry due to the desiccant at the bottom and because it is sealed to keep
outside, moist air from getting inside.If a sample is allowed to cool in the open air of
the laboratory, it will absorb water from the air. If you need to make precise weight
measurements, this added water weight will give an incorrect measurement.
Weighing the sample while it is hot also will cause inaccurate measurements
because as the sample cools, the weight fluctuates. This fluctuation may be slight,
but it can still throw off the results.

The shelf life of the product depends on water activity. Moisture can be determined
by using following methods,

•Thermal Drying method

Drying either hot air oven at 1050C in 2-3 hours or in vacuum ovens which iswidely
used for sugar based foods. The measurement of the weight loss whichresults due
to the evaporation ofH2O at or near boiling point is taken here. The lossin weight
depend on the particle size, weight of the sample used, type of the dishand
temperature variation in the ovens etc.
•Chemical assay
This is based on the non-stoicheometric reaction of water. This technique is
particularly suited to food products that show erratic results when heated or
submitted to a vacuum. It is the method of choice for low-moisture foods such as
dried fruits and vegetables, candies, chocolate, roasted coffee, oils and fats, and
low-moisture foods high in sugar or protein.

•Physical method
Involves physical and physiochemical reaction in food.

Infrared rays are part of the electromagnetic spectrum. This invisible heat radiation
generates wave lengths within the long-wavelength limit of visible red light.
Infrared rays are governed by the laws of optics and can be focused using a concave
spherical mirror or a concentrating reflector.

The oven drying method causes both water and readily volatile components to
evaporate from the sample. The slight heating achieved by convection drying does
not always dry the sample completely. The result obtained is higher than water
content, but less than the total moisture content. An infrared dryer causes water,
readily volatile and non-volatile components to evaporate. The total moisture
content of the sample is analyzed by determining the energy absorption caused by
the intense heat. The results achieved are usually greater than with the drying oven
reference method.