Procedure to analyse ash content in Food Products with Muffle Furnace
The quality assurance and quality control of organic products and materials such as food products involves a huge number of steps that must be followed to ensure better quality of the products delivered to the customers. One such procedure for quality assurance is ash content analysis.
At the point when natural contents of a material are burned to the ground, the gave up is ash. It is the inorganic content present in any material. In the event that any material is warmed to its consuming point in presence of oxidizing specialists, just ash is given up. To evaluate the quality of a material, it is essential to survey the presence of inorganic parts. There are various cycles characterized to quantify the ash content in the food items, and they are;
- Wet ashing
- Dry ashing
- Low-temperature ashing
The test strategy is chosen dependent on the utilization of the material, prerequisites of the example, particulars of the example. These test measures additionally help in dissecting the minerals present, as they can be handily separated (Packaged Food Testing Instruments).
In the food business, to find out the quality of food, various tests are performed. These days, ash testing is making up for lost time the pattern as it enlightens a ton concerning the quality. Minerals present in the material can likewise be evaluated with this test. As per the administrative specialists, the presence of ash up to 5% is worthy, more than this aides in deciding the age of the food.
How to Prepare Samples?
To play out the ash test, setting up the example is a significant part. The food test must be in powdered structure. Any dampness content present is dried first and it would prompt sprinkling during warming. Greasy food tests leave dampness when dried which forestalls scattering. Another serious issue is defilement of test because of environmental factors or because of the compartment utilized for holding the example. The heaviness of the example must be in the middle of 1 to 10 gms.
Various Methods of Performing Test with Muffle Furnace
- Dry Ashing - In this cycle, a muffle furnace is utilized to torch the example. The temperature of the chamber is kept up to approx. 600°C. At this temperature, the water vanishes from the example and rest of the contents burned to the ground. During this cycle, a large portion of the minerals get changed into phosphates, sulfates and oxides. Because of the presence of some unstable materials in the example, the test outcomes may result off base. This is the reason other testing strategies are favored when materials like lead mercury and iron are available in the example.
By utilizing the headway in the innovation, shrewd systematic instruments are presented in the market that doesn't need handling of test prior to testing. They are furnished with dynamic circuits to dry out the dampness first and afterward change it into ash for investigation, utilizing high-temperature range.
- Wet Ashing – This procedure of deciding ash content in a food test is nearly quicker than different strategies. The time-frame may go from 10 minutes to few hours. In this cycle, the temperature range is set at 350°C. The distinction in weight when the test is the level of ash content.
% Ash (dry basis) = (MAsh/M Dry) X 100
% Ash (wet basis) = (MAsh/MWet ) X 100
Where,
MASH = Mass of the ash sample,
MDRY = Refers to the mass of the dried sample.
MWET = Refers to the mass of the wet sample.
Pacorr offers a very high efficiency testing instrument called muffle furnace that can be used for testing the ash content in the materials. The instrument comes with a high grade stainless steel chamber that is provided with the high insulation glass wool for efficient heat conduction. The outer body material is mild steel that makes it ideal for use in harsh industrial conditions.