Determination of Oven Moisture in Tobacco

A comparison of mechanical convection and gravity convection oven-drying of tobacco was made on 12 tobacco samples, six with high and six with low moisture content. Data show that better interlaboratory precision was obtained by drying in a mechanical convection oven. The term “apparent moisture” is vised becavise oven drying also causes loss of volatile organic material. The magnitude of this loss is shown to be from 0.25 to 1.5%, depending on the type and treatment of the tobacco. The forced draft oven method is recommended for adoption as official, first action.