The moisture content is basically the weight of water contained in the rice or husk that is expressed as a percentage. This refers to the wet base which means the total weight of the grain including the water.
Because it is important?
It is extremely important to measure the moisture content in rice due to the management and marketing of paddy rice and rice. Due to the different purposes of rice depending on different ideal moisture contents, testing for exact moisture content is essential. If there are inaccurate moisture content measurements, it can lead to different serious scenarios:
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If the grain is extremely wet in storage, it will spoil.
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In case the grain is too solid it means too dry, it will result in the loss of weight of these grains which means a loss of benefits.
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If the rice is harvested wetter than necessary, there will be an additional cost of drying and also a loss in harvest.
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When the rice is ground with wrong moisture content, there is lower head rice.
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Drying the rice too much will result in additional drying cost along with loss of rice quality.
How to measure the moisture content?
There are two methods to measure the moisture content in grain:
- Primary method – Based on weight measurements such as infrared moisture balance and oven method.
- Secondary method – In this method electronic instruments are used that make use of the electrical characteristics of the grain.
When it comes to measuring moisture content, there are several portable grain moisture meters that can be used. When selecting a meter for this purpose, make sure that it is suitable for the activity for which it will be used, such as grinding grain or rice harvest.
The type of portable moisture meter used in:
Harvest – Here, to measure MC, use a resistance moisture meter that can give you quick results with only small samples. If you have a low MC, you will have more breakage losses and a higher MC will result in losses from grain quality.
Drying – The seeds must be dried below 12% and the grains below 14%, as improper drying will lead to poor quality of the vegetables and grain. To avoid any damage, dry the paddy within 24 hours after harvest.
Storage – In the first weeks and months, the percentage of MC should be 14% or less and in 8 to 12 months, it should be 13% or less.
Grinding – The standard MC is between 13% and 14%.