文摘
A Karl Fischer (KF) coulometric titration method was designed and optimized for the quantitative determination of water in chocolate. A number of essential KF experimental parameters were investigated and assessed, including a study of polar extraction solvents, extraction times, interfering side reactions, and a comparison of pyridine-free KF coulometric reagents. The optimized protocol was found to be applicable to a wide variety of chocolate samples. Typical coulometric titration times for the chocolate samples were between 1 and 5?min, translating to water contents from 0.18 to 0.38?%-em class="a-plus-plus">w/w. With this contribution, the quantification of water in chocolate using KF titration methods is now a simple, safe, and reliable process, comparable in terms of precision and accuracy to any commercially available KF coulometric apparatus.