Direct Manometric Determination of Vapor Pressure

Water activity (aw) is the ratio of the partial vapor pressure of water above a solution to that of pure water at the same specific temperature. It plays an important role in evaluating the microbial, chemical, and physical stability of foods during storage and processing. The vapor pressure in the headspace of a food sample can be measured directly by a manometer. A manometer has one or two transparent tubes and two liquid surfaces where pressure applied to the surface of one tube causes an elevation of the liquid surface in the other tube. The amount of elevation is read from a scale that is usually calibrated to read directly in pressure units. Makower and Myers (1943) were the first to use this method to measure vapor pressure exerted by food. Later, the method was improved, in terms of design features of the apparatus, by various scientists (Taylor, 1961 Labuza et al., 1972 Lewicki, 1987). Trailer (1983), Lewicki (1989), and Zanoni et al. (1999) used a capacitance manometer instead of a U-tube manometer for the measurement of vapor pressure. Lewicki et al. (1978) showed that the precision and reproducibility of the method can be improved by the simultaneous measurement of the water vapor pressure and temperature of the food sample. The method is reviewed in detail by Rizvi (1995) and Rahman (1995). 

Two procedures for measuring vapor pressure of a given sample are described in this unit. The Basic Protocol directly measures the vapor pressure above the sample inside the flask. The Alternate Protocol improves the measurements by incorporating the correction factor due to the change in volume that occurs when water vapor is eliminated from the air/water vapor mixture during desiccation. 

DETERMINATION OF WATER ACTIVITY IN FOOD SAMPLES BY MANOMETRIC VAPOR PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS 

Vapor pressure manometer apparatus consisting, e.g., of sample flask, desiccant flask, U-tube, manometric fluid (such as Apiezon B, from Sigma), and vacuum pump (Fig. A2.4.1) or similar apparatus with capacitance manometer 

Additional reagents and equipment for gravimetric (unitai.i) or Karl Fischer (unit ai.2) determination of water 

---

A2.1 Factors to Consider When Estimating Water Vapor Pressure A2.2 Dew-Point Method for the Determination of Water Activity A2.3 Measurement of Water Activity Using Isopiestic Method A2.4 Direct Manometric Determination of Vapor Pressure A2.5 Measurement of Water Activity by Electronic Sensors... 

Milton et al. (1997) proposed the manometric temperature measurement (MTM) the transient pressure response is mathematically modeled under the assumption that four mechanisms contribute to the pressure rise, namely the direct sublimation of ice through the dried product layer at a constant temperature, the increase in the ice temperature due to continuous heating of the frozen matrix during the measurement, the increase in the temperature at the sublimation interface when a stationary temperature profile is obtained in the frozen layer and, finally, the leaks in the chamber. The four contributions are considered purely additive the values of the thickness and of the thermal gradient are needed but they are not known exactly. The values of the vapor pressure over ice, of the product resistance and the heat transfer coefficient at the vial bottom are determined with regression analysis. 

---