Desempenho de dois tipos de determinadores elétricos de umidade para o cacau

Portable moisture meters of the electrical resistance and capacitance types were calibrated for cacao in the range of 6.6 to 10.7 percent and 0.8 to 12.5 percent respectively. The reference method employed was the moisture oven method for cacao of the International Organization for Standards (ISO). The statistical analysis of the results showed no significant difference among the responses of the capacitance type moisture meters. This was not observed for the resistance type, however. Deviations up to 3.2 percent in relation to the standard method were obtained. Comparatively, the precision of the capacitance meters was also higher. Periodic checks must be done in order to monitor the stability of the readings of these meters and then calculate correction factors for each meter.