Chapter 2
Compositional Analysis of food
Physical and Chemical Analysis of Food
PART 1: MOISTURE AND TOTAL SOLIDS ANALYSIS 05/26/2024 1
Chapter content
1 Introduction
2 Moisture Content
3 Water Activity
4 Moisture Sorption Isotherms
5 Summary
6 Study Questions
7 Practice Problems
8 References
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Part 1
Moisture and Total Solids Analysis
1) Introduction
2) Water in Foods
3) Sample Collection and Handling
4) Moisture/Water Content
5) Oven Drying Methods
6) Distillation Procedures
7) Chemical Method: Karl Fischer
8) Titration
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1 Introduction
The moisture content of food also referred to
as water content, is an indicator of the amount
of water present in food.
Moisture content is the ratio of the mass of
water contained in the pore spaces of food to
the solid mass of particles in that material,
expressed as a percentage.
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1 Introduction
Importance of Moisture Assays
The purpose of moisture assay is essential for quality control, safety, and economic factors across various industries.
The important od moisture analysis
•Quality Control: Ensuring product consistency
and consumer satisfaction.
•Shelf Life: Determining the durability and
freshness of products.
•Safety: Preventing microbial growth and
spoilage.
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1 Introduction
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2. Water in Food
Water properties
Water molecules tend to cluster around ions and charged groups, as well as other hydrogen bond donor and acceptor
groups such as hydroxyl groups (-OH), carbonyl oxygens (=O), and amine groups (-NH2), adopting a more ordered
structure in these hydration shell clusters than is found in bulk water .
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2. Water in Food
Water doesn’t have covalently bond with food ingredients, it can be difficult to remove from foods. The
hydrogen bond donor and acceptor sites on water molecules interact with food ingredients via hydrogen
bonds, dipole-dipole interactions, ionic attractions, and van der Waals forces.
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2. Water in Food
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2. Sample Collection and Handling
The process of collecting and managing samples to ensure they are representative and
preserved for accurate analysis.
What you should do during sample collection and handling
You should :
•Minimize Air Exposure: Limit the duration of sample exposure to the open atmosphere to prevent moisture loss or gain.
•Reduce Heating During Grinding: Avoid friction-induced heating to maintain sample moisture content.
•Minimize Headspace in Containers: Use containers with minimal headspace to prevent moisture transfer between the
sample and the container environment.
•Reblend Samples: Remove the entire sample from the container, reblend quickly, and take a new test portion to ensure
uniform moisture distribution.
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2. Sample Collection and Handling
These findings highlight the critical need for strict control during sample collection and weighing to ensure accurate
moisture analysis.
The rate of loss is related to the relative humidity
(RH).
Moisture Gain: Samples with lower water activity (aw) than the
At 50 % RH, it required only 5 s to lose 0.01 % environmental RH, such as powders and crispy products, can gain
moisture. moisture during handling, leading to overestimation of moisture
content.
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2. Moisture Content
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2. Moisture/water Content
Types of methods: Direct and indirect methods
Water is a major component of many food products, Direct: removing water by drying, distillation and
and knowing the expected moisture content is
crucial for selecting the appropriate measurement extraction
method. Indirect: capacitance, specific gravity,. Density,
refractive index, freezing
Several official method may exist for particular product
Method AOAC, 926.08: vacuum oven
Method AOAC, 984.12: forced draft oven
Method AOAC, 969.19: Microwave oven
Method AOAC, 969.19: distillation
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2. Moisture/water Content
2.1Oven drying methods
In oven drying methods, which are direct methods, the sample is heated under specified conditions,
and the weight loss is used to calculate the moisture content.
AOAC International has approved various oven methods for measuring moisture in many food
products. The drying time can range from about 1 hour to over 24 hours.
Any oven method used to evaporate moisture has as its foundation the fact that the boiling point of
water is 100 °C.
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2. Moisture/water Content
2.1Oven drying methods
Factors such as particle size, particle size distribution, sample size, hygroscopicity, and surface area during
drying all influence the rate and efficiency of moisture removal.
For liquid products like juices and
milk, pre-drying over a steam bath is
common before oven drying.
Solid products such as bread and field-
dried grain are typically air-dried first,
then ground and oven dried.
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2. Moisture/water Content
2.1Oven drying methods
o Decomposition of other food constituents: volatile constituents: acid, alcohol, ester, and aldehyde
o Temperature control: specific temperature and time – convection, forced draft and vacuum ovens.
o Forced draft oven: 1oC different in interior, air circulate by fan
o Vacuum ovens: The effect is to minimize cold spot as well as exhaust moisture in the interior air
Type of pans for oven drying method
o Diameter: 5.5cm
o Pan covers
o Disposable pan
-Handling and preparation of Pans
o Tongs and wear glove: oil in fingerprint have
weight
o Can must dry for 3h before use
o Store dried moisture pan in desiccator 1h
o Cleaning can: use spong
Calculation
▪ Moisture can be expressed
as wwb (wet weight basic)
and dwd (dried weight
basic)
1) Introduction
2) Water in Foods
3) Sample Collection and Handling
4) Moisture/Water Content
5) Oven Drying Methods
5.1. Vacuum Oven
5.2. Microwave Analyzer
5.3. Infrared Drying
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