Moisture content was determined according to the AOAO (1984)
as follows: 2 g of sample were weighed using a sensitive balance in clean
dry and pre-weighed crucible and then placed in an oven at 105o
C and
left over night. The crucible was transferred to desiccators and allowed to
cool then weighed. Further placements in the oven were carried out until
approximately a constant weight was obtained. Moisture content was
calculated using the following formula: