Measuring dry extract in dairy products: optimizing the methodology

ABSTRACT: Dairy products are a common staple in the human diet. Moisture content is an important factor in the composition of foods, and it is a parameter used to measure product quality due to its direct influence on food storage. In this study, the moisture contents of three different products (mozzarella cheese, a creamy cheese spread, and yogurt drinks) were measured using oven drying, infrared drying, and microwave drying in order to compare the results of these three methods. Three brands of each product were used, all of which were purchased at the local supermarket in the city of Goiatuba, Goiás, Brazil. The different methods used to measure the dry extract of most of the brands analyzed did not differ significantly between each other based on a significance level of 5% on Tukey’s test. There was a significant difference between the methodologies used in the case of only one brand of each analyzed product. Microwave drying method wasreported to be a safe and reliable technique for analyzing dry extract from dairy products; it produces precise results, thus guaranteeing the quality of the analysis, and it reduces procedure time, thus optimizing the routine analytical processes performed in quality control laboratories within food processing plants.