UMES EXTENSION
12. WATER ACTIVITY The goal of drying is to lower the water activity. Aw > 0.85 can cause illness and Aw > 0.60 can cause spoilage. Have samples of your dried herbs tested for water activity level by a certified food testing laboratory (ex. Microbac baltimore_food@ microbac.com) or contact Dr. Melinda Schwarz at University of Maryland Eastern Shore (mschwarz@umes.edu), especially if you’re in the formulation stage. Whenever you change a drying method, you’ll need to submit a new Aw test.
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