The objective of the present paper was to compare the seed water content of maize and soya, obtained by the oven method at different temperatures and the Karl Fischer method. The water contents used were 11.2 %, 12.8 % and 16.2 % for maize and 10.7 %, 12.4 % and 16.0 % for soya. Samples were dried for a sufficiently long time in order to obtain the same results in both methods. The results indicate that the official method for seed moisture determination (105oC oven method) should be revised in order to obtain more reliable results. The drying time in the oven varied according to the seed water content and the temperature used.
seed; moisture content; Karl Fisher
