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Pawkit Water Activity

This document describes an experiment to determine the water activity of various foods using a Pawkit water activity meter. Water activity measures the availability of water in a food for microbial growth. The experiment found that carrot and apple have the highest water activity of 0.97, while biscuit has the lowest of 0.48. Understanding a food's water activity is important for determining appropriate preservation and packaging methods to ensure safety and stability.

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Samip Pandey
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80 views3 pages

Pawkit Water Activity

This document describes an experiment to determine the water activity of various foods using a Pawkit water activity meter. Water activity measures the availability of water in a food for microbial growth. The experiment found that carrot and apple have the highest water activity of 0.97, while biscuit has the lowest of 0.48. Understanding a food's water activity is important for determining appropriate preservation and packaging methods to ensure safety and stability.

Uploaded by

Samip Pandey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Expt. No. 2. Determination of water activity of foods using Pawkit water activity meter.

Objective:

 To determine water activity of foods using Pawkit water activity meter.

Background:

Water activity (aW) is defined as the ratio of the vapour pressure of water in a system to the
vapour pressure of pure water at the same temperature, or the equilibrium relative humidity of
the air surrounding the system at the same temperature. Or the equilibrium relative humidity of
the air surrounding the system at the same temperature.

Water activity meters are used to measure water activity of various materials, for quality control
and safety purposes. The Pawkit water activity meter is accurate to ±0.02 aw.

Materials required

1. Water activity meter


2. Different food samples (Tea, Potato, Apple, Biscuit, Carrot, Rice, Flour)

Procedure

1. The sample (small pieces) was filled into the sample cup up to half of the cup, The cup
was placed on a flat surface and the instrument was placed over the sample cup. Button I
was pressed to display 0.00 aw on the display screen and leaved for 5 min. After 5 min a
tick-tick sound came out of the instrument (for 5 times) then the water activity value was
noted displayed on the screen.
2. The measurements were repeated for the next samples as in the step 1.

Observation:

S. Sample Water activity Temperature


N
1 Black Tea 0.65 29.5 ºc
2 Biscuit 0.48 30 ºc
3 Flour 0.60 29.8 ºc
4 Rice 0.79 29.6 ºc
5 Carrot 0.97 28.8 ºc
6 Potato 0.96 28.6 ºc
7 Apple 0.97 28.9 ºc
Result and Discussion:

Among the sample, carrot and apple contain highest water activity at 28.8ºC and 28.9 ºC that is
0.97 whereas biscuit contain lowest water activity at 30 ºC that is 0.48. Different foods have
different water activity levels, most fresh fruits and vegetables have high water activity ranging
from 0.95-0.99, baked goods like biscuits, cookies have water activity <0.60, which can
influence their shelf life and susceptibility to microbial growth and chemical reactions.
Understanding the water activity of specific food is critical as it guides in choosing right
preservation methods and packaging to ensure product stability and safety.

Sample port cover

Fig. Pawkit water activity meter Fig. Upside down Pawkit water activity meter
Sensor

Fig. Sample cup port opened by pulling the port cover

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