Abstract
BackgroundThe standard method for grain moisture measurement is the conventional air oven-drying technique. This method requires a longer period of time to determine the moisture content (m.c.). Although electric moisture meters are popular in rice industries, it has to be calibrated frequently with the oven-drying method. Therefore, an alternative but fast and reliable method is required, especially, for the grain marketing industries.ResultsThree different sizes of paddy (Oryza sativa L.) samples (Bg 300-intermediate bold, Bg 358-short round and At 405-long slender) were used for this study. Five different moisture levels (12–20% wet basis) were prepared by adding known amounts of water. Relationship between the microwave oven and hot air oven moisture values were evaluated using Pearson, Spearman and Kendall correlation coefficient methods. The linear regression relationship was also established between hot air oven and microwave oven moisture determination methods. According to the data, except for 870 W of absorbed MW power setting level, the other two MW power setting (265 W and 550 W) showed a significant statistical correlation (r > 0.55, P < 0.01) between the air oven and MW oven m.c. values of the three paddy samples. However, MW settings of 550 W for 7 min of absorbed power indicated a significantly higher regression coefficient of determination (r2 = 0.94, P < 0.01) with air oven m.c. values.ConclusionFrom the study, it can be concluded that the domestic microwave oven can be successfully used to determine the moisture content of different paddy varieties as an alternative method to the conventional air oven-drying method.
Highlights
The standard method for grain moisture measurement is the conventional air oven-drying technique
The apparent m.c. (± standard deviation (SD)) values were obtained after different Microwave heating (MW) power–time setting levels and air oven drying for each predicted m.c. (Table 2)
The results show that there was no statistical difference (P > 0.05) of moisture contents between air oven drying and MW oven-drying methods at 550 W of absorbed MW power output
Summary
The standard method for grain moisture measurement is the conventional air oven-drying technique. This method requires a longer period of time to determine the moisture content (m.c.). Electric moisture meters are popular in rice industries, it has to be calibrated frequently with the oven-drying method. Moisture content (m.c.) is the most important factor that affects the storage, processing and marketing of rice [7, 10, 13]. Non-uniform moisture distribution is often found in rice storage; sampling and moisture determination is an important operation to control postharvest loss of grains [6, 10]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
