Unwanted powder moisture content is a significant concern during powder manufacturing, as it impacts the powder’s physical and chemical properties, altering its texture, flavor, stability, or efficacy. The clumping, degradation, and microbial growth caused by moisture in a powder reduce its shelf life. Controlling moisture is essential to extending shelf life and, in turn, maximizing profits from powdered products.
Here, we’ll explore the impact of powder moisture content on quality, stability, and overall profit.
| The Impact of Moisture Content on Quality and Stability of Powder | |||
| Flowability | A high moisture content can cause powder particles to absorb water and increase cohesion between them. Particles start clumping, which impacts flowability.Poor flowability can result in inefficient operational handling, suboptimal manufacturing processes, and inconsistencies in tablet manufacturing, leading to uneven dosage and compromised quality. | ||
| Compressibility | Excessive moisture can cause powder particles to adhere to each other too strongly, thereby altering the desired density of the powder. Poor powder compressibility can make tablets either too soft, compromising their integrity, or too hard, affecting their solubility. | ||
| Reactivity | Moisture can alter the stability of the powder and increase its reactivity by elevating the powder particles’ sensitivity to heat or pressure.Water can act as a reactant/catalyst to degrade sensitive compounds and reduce their efficacy. | ||
Powders with unstable moisture levels are prone to caking and microbial growth. For example, powdered milk with high moisture content can become contaminated with pathogens, such as E. coli, causing serious health risks. Insufficient moisture can result in excessive dust, poor binding of powder particles, and product inconsistencies.
Therefore, controlling powder moisture content is critical in order to improve product shelf life, and optimizing supply chain profitability.
| The Impact of Moisture Content on Profitability | |||
| Moisture reduces shelf life | A real-life case study compared the economic performance of two dairy products: traditional milk powders and novel milk concentrates. Milk powders offered a potential profit benefit of up to 34.5%1 because they have a longer shelf life due to less moisture. | ||
| Moisture increases packaging volume | Increased moisture level hinders the low-pressure compression of powders, impacting packing efficiency and cost. | ||
Reduced shelf life and increased packaging and transportation costs result in inventory write-offs. Controlling moisture content throughout powder processing is critical to meeting industry specifications and achieving profitability.
Minimize Powder Moisture Content With Advanced Powder Dynamics
At Advanced Powder Dynamics, our patented Dynamic Atomization Technology (DAT) enables precision control over powder moisture content and specifications. Flash drying in half a second and zero-pressure, controlled feed mean temperature-sensitive particles are protected from degradation, increasing their stability and enhancing a powder’s shelf life.
The DAT maintains lower water activity in nutrient particles in powder, and limits operational, supply chain, and financial risks for our clients. The proprietary technology is well-suited for the most difficult-to-absorb, temperature-sensitive, and dense ingredients.
Combining DAT with cyclodextrin delivery technology further slows down the degradation of powder particles, increasing their solubility and stability, thereby extending the shelf life of powders. The delivery science enables a shelf life of three years (12 months more than the industry standard), particularly for supplement powders containing some of the most volatile and fragile ingredients.
Want to learn more about how Advanced Powder Dynamics can help you reduce powder moisture content? Contact us or call (928) 492-4040.
Reference:
1Stefansdottir, Bryndis, et al. “Impact of Shelf Life on the Trade-off between Economic and Environmental Objectives: A Dairy Case.” International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 201, 2018, pp. 136-148, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2018.04.009. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
William West, a Harvard MBA, has a proven track record of scaling businesses, having expanded HID Global Corporation’s revenue from $200 million to $1 billion through strategic acquisitions. As Co-founder, CFO, and COO at ACRE, LLC, he transformed the company into a $350 million global leader. His vision now drives Tesseract Life Sciences’ mission to redefine health with science-backed innovations.