Overview
EN ISO 712-2:2024 - “Cereals and cereal products - Determination of moisture content - Part 2: Automatic drying oven method (ISO 712-2:2024)” - is a CEN-endorsed international standard that specifies an automatic drying oven procedure as a reference method for measuring moisture content in a range of cereals and cereal products. It defines the principle, apparatus, test preparation and the automated drying/weighing cycle used to determine moisture as a percentage loss of mass.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Scope: Applicable to wheat, rice (paddy, husked, milled), barley, millet (Panicum miliaceum), rye, oats, triticale and sorghum in grain, milled grain, semolina and flour. Not applicable to maize or pulses.
- Principle: Automatic drying and periodic weighing of a conditioned test portion in an automatic drying oven to calculate moisture loss.
- Temperature: Drying is performed with the oven air and shelf temperature maintained between 130 °C and 133 °C in the vicinity of test portions.
- Apparatus:
- Grinding mill with low heat generation, air-tight construction and particle-size control.
- Non-corrodible metal or glass dishes sized so the sample mass per unit area does not exceed 0.3 g/cm².
- Automatic drying oven integrating an analytical balance with weighing accuracy of ±0.001 g, automated reweighing and software to calculate and store moisture content.
- Operational controls: Continuous airflow for faster drying; construction must prevent short openings from affecting chamber temperature or allow recovery to 130 °C within 5 minutes.
- Sampling & preparation: Sampling itself is outside the method (ISO 24333 recommended). Guidance on when grinding is required and how to prepare test portions is included.
- Data & quality: Procedure includes number of determinations, calculation method, and references to precision, repeatability, reproducibility and uncertainty.
Applications and who uses this standard
- Quality control laboratories in milling, grain trading, rice processing and cereal-based food production for routine moisture determinations.
- Regulatory and conformity assessment bodies that require reference-method moisture measurement for compliance, trade or labeling.
- Research institutions and interlaboratory studies needing standardized, reproducible moisture results.
- Grain storage and logistics operations that monitor moisture to manage storage stability, drying decisions and pricing.
Related standards
- ISO 712-1 - Reference method series for moisture determination (see for context and broader methodology).
- ISO 24333 - Recommended sampling procedures for cereals and derived products.
- ISO 6540 / ISO 24557 - Alternate moisture methods for maize and pulses respectively (maize and pulses not covered by this document).
Keywords: EN ISO 712-2:2024, ISO 712-2:2024, cereals moisture content, automatic drying oven, moisture determination, cereal quality control, grain testing.
