Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Technologia Alimentaria

Abstract An original method and design of a sensor for electrical measurement of moisture content in comminuted food was presented. Equations were formulated presenting the dependence of electrical resistance of the tested sample on the resistivity (specific resistance) of food as well as the dependence of electrical capacitance of the investigated sample on the permittivity of food. Experiments were carried out on the measurements of moisture content in wheat flour and potato starch serving as examples. The results of these measurements were compared with the results obtained using the conventional gravimetric analysis. The time of moisture content measurement was 3 to 5 s, and the time it took to prepare the sample was not longer than 60 s. The advantage of the method is that the density of the investigated food sample does not affect the measurement results of moisture content.