Dry Heat vs Moist Heat – Sterilization method | Biology Ideas

Dry Heat –

• Air heated above 1600 C is used for sterilization.
• Killing due to oxidation of organic compounds /burning of ashes.
• Has low penetrating power.
• Needs more time for sterilization (e.g.dry heat takes 8 hours to sterilize at 1200 C.

Materials sterilized by dry heat are :

1. Pipettes
2. Petridishes
3. Pasteur pipettes

The hot air oven is used for sterilization by dry heat.

Moist Heat –

• Steam used for sterilization.
• Killing due to denaturation of proteins.
• Has higher penetrating power.
• Needs much less time for sterilization(e.g. moist heat takes 15 minutes to sterilize at 1210 C.

Materials sterilized by moist heat are :

1. All nutrient media and media components except heat labile substances
2. All types of glasswares.
3. Rubber gloves, Velevet pads, etc.

The autoclave is used for sterilization by moist heat.

Reference and Sources

• https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-dry-heat-and-moist-heat-sterilization/
• https://princesterilization.com/difference-between-moist-heat-sterilization-dry-heat-sterilization/
• https://diatechusa.com/blog/moist-heat-vs-dry-heat-sterilization/
• https://www.thermalmax.com/dry-heat-vs-moist-heating-pads-whats-the-difference/
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/heat-sterilisation
• https://biodifferences.com/difference-between-moist-heat-and-dry-heat-sterilization.html

Further Readings

1. Meristematic Tissue System
2. Fruit
3. Carbohydrates
4. Leaves – Morphology of Leaves | Biology Ideas
5. Modification in Leaves