Subject: Food Chemical Analysis

1. FACULTY OF BIORESOURCES AND FOOD INDUSTRY
SEMESTER II SESSION 2021/2022
FSI 20602
(FOOD CHEMICAL ANALYSIS)
LAB REPORT
Title of Experiment : EXPERIMENT No. 1- DETERMINATION OF MOISTURE
AND TOTAL SOLIDS
Date of Experiment : 28 MAC 2022 (MONDAY)
Date of Submission : 4 APRIL 2022 (MONDAY)
Lecturer’s Name : MOHD TARMIZAN BIN IBRAHIM
Student’s Name : SITI NUR ADILAH BINTI MD RASID
Student’s ID : BACL20059110
Group Members : GROUP 3A
NUR IZZATI BINTI MOHD LIAH 059884
NURAIN NATASHA BINTI MUZALAN 059788
NURUL FAHIMAH BINTI RAMLI 059424
QAIRUL NISA' BINTI ABD KADIR 059741
Marks :
Format 5
Abstract 10
Introduction 25
Methodology 10
Results & Discussions 35
Conclusions 5
References 5
Appendices 5
TOTAL 100

2. ABSTRACT
The moisture (or total solids) content of foods is important to food manufacturers for a
variety of reasons. Moisture is an important factor in food quality, preservation, and resistance to
deterioration. Determination of moisturecontent also is necessary to calculate the content of other
food constituents on a uniform basis (e.g., dry weight basis and wet weight basis). The dry matter
that remains after moisture analysis is commonly referred to as total solids. Moisture content of
foods can be determined by a variety of methods, but obtaining accurate and precise data is
commonly a challenge. In this experiment, we will use oven drying method and drying method
(moisture analyser). These various methods of analysis have different applications, advantages,
and disadvantages. Type of food samples that could be analyse by different groups are muffin,
peanut and roti sardine to know the % of moisture content and % total solids. It is recommended
that all analyses be performed in triplicate, as time permits. At the end of experiment, one of the
best methods will be chosen due to several factors.
INTRODUCTION
Moisture content is one of the most commonly measured properties of food materials.
It is important to food scientists for a number of different reasons. For example, Legal and
Labelling Requirements. There are legal limits to the maximum or minimum amount of water that
must be present in certain types of food. Second, Economic. The cost of many foods depends on
the amount of water they contain. Water is an inexpensive ingredient, and manufacturers often
try to incorporate as much as possible in a food, without exceeding some maximum legal
requirement. Microbial Stability. The propensity of microorganisms to grow in foods depends on
their water content. For this reason, many foods are dried below some critical moisture content.
Next, Food Quality include chemical and physical appearance. The texture, taste, appearance
and stability of foods depends on the amount of water they contain. Last but not least, Food
Processing Operations. A knowledge of the moisture content is often necessary to predict the
behaviour of foods during processing, e.g. mixing, drying, flow through a pipe or packaging.
Therefore, it is 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 moisture content value
obtained is highly dependent on the type of oven used conditions within oven, and the time and
temperature of drying. Non water volatiles can be lost during drying, but their loss is generally a

3. negligible percentage of the amount of water lost. The choice of an analytical procedure for a
particular application depends on the nature of the food being analyzed and the reason the
information is needed.
Foods are heterogeneous materials that contain different proportions of chemically
bound, physically bound, capillary, trapped or bulk water. In addition, foods may contain water
that is present in different physical states which are gas, liquid or solid. The fact that water
molecules can exist in a number of different molecular environments, with different
physicochemicalproperties, can be problematic for the food analyst trying to accurately determine
the moisture content of foods. Many analytical procedures developed to measure moisture
content are more sensitive to water in certain types of molecular environment than to water in
other types of molecular environment. This means that the measured value of the moisture
content of a particular food may depend on the experimental technique used to carry out the
measurement. In this experiment, we will use oven drying method and drying method (moisture
analyser) to determine the moisture content and total solids in certain food.
Objectives for this experiment are to determine the moisture content of food samples
using drying oven method and to determine the moisture content of food samples using Moisture
Analyser.
APPARATUS
 Crucibles (or similar porcelain or metal dishes)
 Drying oven
 Dessicator
 Balance
 Crucible tongs
 Moisture analyser MA 150Q Sartorius
 Sample pan
METHODOLOGY
A. Oven drying method

4. 1. Sample was grined as finely as possible or homogenise in a blender.
2. The sample was mixed thoroughly.
3. Crucible was dried with cover for 4 hours in an oven at 105 o
C. The crucible was
cooled in a dessicator and after it has attained room temperature, weighed it soon.
4. 3g of homogenised samples were weighed into the crucible (balance sensitivity
0.0001 g).
5. The sample uncovered was placed in oven at 105 o
C. The drying time about 6 hours,
for dried samples (feeds). The drying time about 24 hours to constant, for wetted
samples (muscle tissue).
6. The crucible was removed and cooled in a dessicator and after attained room
temperature, weighed it soon.
B. Drying method (Moisture Analyser)
1. The Moisture Analyser was switched on.
2. The sample chamber was opened and a new sample pan was positioned.
3. The TARE button was pressed to sets reading to zero.
4. About 2g of sample was placed and evenly distributed in the sample pan. The
sample chamber was closed.
5. The ENTER button was pressed to start the drying process.
6. The result display for moisture %L was read and recorded, at the end of drying
process.
7. The sample chamber was opened and the pan was carefully lifted to remove the
sample.
RESULTS
A. Sample 1 – Muffin
Table 1: Oven Drying Method
Sample Trial
W1
(g)
W2
(g)
W3
(g)
% Moisture
% Total
Solids
1 58.2193 61.3004 60.6427 21.35 78.65

5. Muffin
2 60.4383 63.5150 62.8596 21.30 78.70
3 59.3670 62.4277 61.7804 21.15 78.85
Mean 59.3415 62.4144 61.7609 21.27 78.73
Table 2: Drying Method(Moisture Analyser)
Sample Trial % Moisture
Mass of
sample
(before)
g
Time
(mins)
Muffin
1 19.85 2.079 8.2
2 18.49 2.036 7.4
3 18.07 2.045 5.8
Mean
18.80 2.053 7.1
B. Sample 2 - Peanut
Table 1: Oven Drying Method
Sample Trial
W1
(g)
W2
(g)
W3
(g)
% Moisture
% Total
Solids
Peanut
1 65.1204 68.1452 68.0793 2.18 97.82
2 64.3773 67.3905 67.3133 2.56 97.44
3 57.0300 60.0382 59.9898 1.61 98.39
Mean 62.1759 65.1913 65.1275 2.12 97.88

6. Table 2: Drying Method(Moisture Analyser)
Sample Trial % Moisture
Mass of
sample
(before)
g
Time
(mins)
Peanut
1 2.53 2.059 3.3
2 2.72 2.022 3.0
3 2.42 2.072 3.0
Mean
2.56 2.051 3.1
B. Sample 3 – Roti Sardin
Table 1: Oven Drying Method
Sample Trial
W1
(g)
W2
(g)
W3
(g)
% Moisture
% Total
Solids
Roti Sardin
1 53.2339 56.2475 55.3198 30.78 69.22
2 53.0304 56.0443 55.1200 30.67 69.33
3 61.9360 64.9577 64.0329 30.56 69.44
Mean 56.0668 59.0832 58.1576 30.67 69.33
Table 2: Drying Method(Moisture Analyser)
Sample Trial % Moisture
Time
(mins)
1
26.59 18.6
2 27.00 17.8

7. Roti Sardin 3 26.45 19.0
Mean
26.68 18.5
DISCUSSIONS
Determination of moisture content and total solids can be performed by using oven drying
method and drying method (Moisture Analyser). In the oven drying method, samples are heated
by convection. This means the samples are at the same temperature as the drying oven. When
using a moisture analyser, the sample heats up and dries by absorbing infrared radiation from the
heating element. The comparison between both methods are, for oven drying method a known
weight of food sample is dried to constant weight in an oven and the loss of weight is equated to
the moisture content of the food. But, the disadvantage of this method is, it requires extended
heating periods and cooling phases, meaning it usually takes hours to produce results.
Procedures are laborious and tedious, involving many manual steps. While for drying method
(Moisture analyser), measurement of moisture content based on thermogravimetric method. In
theory, on the vaporization of water during the drying process; this measurement does not
distinguish weight loss of water from loss of volatile components or sample decomposition.
Moisture analyzers measure the loss-on-drying of a material by using the change in weight from
prior to heating a sample, and after heating it. For this reason, moisture content as measured by
thermogravimetric techniques includes all substances that vaporize when heating a sample, and
is measured as weight loss during the heating process. Therefore, the term moisture content is
used, rather than water content when using a thermogravimetric device.
From the analysis of the data presented in Table 1 – Oven drying method for sample 1
(muffin), 2 (peanut) and sample 3 (roti sardin) it is found that average % moisture is 21.27%, 2.12
% and 30.67% respectively. This means peanut has less moisture content compare to muffin and
roti sardine. Besides that, concentration lowers the water activity in food by using evaporation,
reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration or freeze concentration. Drying lowers the water activity and
moisture content in food using evaporation. Many dried foods are concentrated before being
dried. From this experiment, we obtained average amount of % total solids are 78.73, 97.88,
69.33 for muffin, peanut and roti sardine respectively. The purpose we calculated the % total

8. solids are to know the percentage of solid in certain products and to observe either the products
are in solid, liquid or gas. In addition, the dry matter that remains after moisture removal is
commonly referred to as total solids. This analytical value is of great economic importance to a
food manufacturer, and there are legal limits as to how much water must or can be present in
some foods (Mauer, L.J., Bradley, R.L., 2017).
Based on the Table 2 – Drying method (moisture analyser) for sample 1 (muffin), sample
2 (peanut) and sample 3 (roti sardine) we got average % moisture is 18.80%, 2.56% and 26.68%
respectively. By using this method, we observed that roti sardine had greater amount of %
moisture compared to muffin and peanut. It is clearly this 26.68% moisture is not free water. No
amount of pressure will squeeze water out of the bread. Furthermore, average drying time (mins)
for peanut are shorter rather than muffin and roti sardine which is 3.1 mins, 7.1 mins and 18.5
mins respectively.
Standardized methodology needed for moisture determinations because different
methods will give different results. By standardizing we are able to compare across multiple
labs/experiments. Instrument based on infrared principles also should be practice in laboratory.
However, it is a must to test the accuracy of the instrument first to meet my satisfaction and
company standards. If the results determined using this instrument is nearly with normal methods
used, I still will repeat the experiment for few times to be really satisfied. For the information, the
equipment determines moisture of a sample by heating and drying it with infrared irradiation and
displays the moisture content measured from changes in mass due to evaporation. Extra safety
precautions are required while handling this experiment such as wear glove when you want to
weigh the crucible to avoid moisture from hand and weigh 3g of homogenized sample with
balance sensitivity is 0.0001g to get the accuracy and consistency value during experiment.
CONCLUSIONS
In a nutshell, Moisture analyzers are faster than most other methods of measuring
moisture content. They efficiently dry a sample by transferring energy through both radiation (the
transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through a medium and convection (heat
transfer by mass motion). This is because, it is easy to use. Moisture analyzers are easy to use
compared to other methods, such as wet chemistry or using an oven and a balance, which could
take hours because of the intricate nature of the task. Last but not least, time efficient. A

9. conventional drying oven, on the other hand, uses mostly convection to dry a sample. Both metal
and halogen heating elements radiate energy in the infrared spectrum. But, by using the moisture
analyser the moisture content of a sample can be measured in minutes rather than hours.
REFERENCES
 Bradley, R. L. (2010). Moisture and total solids analysis. In Food analysis (pp. 85-104).
Springer, Boston, MA.
 G.V. Barbosa-Canovas, L. Ma, B. Barletta, Food Engineering Laboratory Manual,
Technomic Publishing Co., PA., 2017, Chapter 7-9, pp.63-104.
 Mauer, L. J., & Bradley, R. L. (2017). Moisture and total solids analysis. In Food
analysis (pp. 257-286). Springer, Cham.
 Nielsen, S. S. (2010). Determination of moisture content. In Food analysis laboratory
manual (pp. 17-27). Springer, Boston, MA.
 Voicu, G., Constantin, G. A., Tudor, P., Stefan, E. M., & Zabava, B. S. Aspects Regarding
the Determination of the Moisture Content of Cereal and Granular Materials with
Apparatus with Infrared Radiations.
APPENDICES
Picture 1: Reading for muffin’s sample by using drying method (Moisture Analyser) for
trial 1

10. Picture 2: Reading for muffin’s sample by using drying method (Moisture Analyser) for
trial 2
Picture 3: Reading for muffin’s sample by using drying method (Moisture Analyser) for
trial 3