The moisture content is basically the weight of water that is contained in the rice or husk expressed as a percentage. This refers to the wet basis which means the total weight of the grain, including water.
Because it is important?
It is very important to measure the moisture content in rice for the management and marketing of paddy and rice. Due to the different purposes of rice depending on different ideal moisture contents, it is essential to test the exact moisture content. If there are inaccurate measurements of moisture content, 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 means it is too dry, it will result in weight loss of these grains which means loss of profit.
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If the rice is harvested wetter than required, it will result in additional drying cost and also crop losses.
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When the rice is ground with wrong moisture content, there is underhead rice.
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If you overdry the rice, it results in additional drying cost along with loss of rice quality.
How to measure moisture content?
There are two methods to measure the moisture content in the grain:
- primary method – It is based on weight measurements, such as the infrared moisture balance and the oven method.
- secondary method – In this method, electronic instruments are used that take advantage 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 it is suitable for the activity you will be using it for, such as grinding grain or rice harvest.
The type of portable moisture meter used in:
Harvest – In this case, to measure the CM, please use a moisture resistance meter that can give you fast results with only small samples. If you have a low MC, you will have more fragmentation losses and a higher Mc will result in bad losses. grain quality.
Drying – Seeds should be dried below 12% and grains below 14%, as inadequate drying will lead to poor grain quality and visibility. To avoid any damage, dry the rice within 24 hours of harvesting.
Storage – In the initial weeks and months, the percentage of MC must be 14% or less and in the 8 to 12 months, it must be 13% or less.
grinding – The standard MC is between 13% and 14%.