224 THE ANALYST. Total Mineral Matter (Ash) ... ... ... ... Sand in Ash ...... ... ... ... .,. Sulphate of Lime in Pepper ... ... .. Carbonate of Lime in Pepper ... ... .., Microscopical Examination for Foreign Structures . . , Woody Fibre ... ... ... ... ... ... ON THE ADULTERATION OF WHITE PEPPER. 2.25 o/o 9.90 o/o 8.35 o/o 5.55 o/o 1.82 o/o 9.66 ,, 9.73 ,, 9-74 ,, 3.66 ,, 3.40 ,, trace -28 ,, a38 ,, -23 ,, 043 ,, trace 2.85 ,, -57 ,, 2.10 ,, -12 ,, -29 ,, 5-07 ,, 5.59 ,, 2.20 ,, *27 ,, none none none none none BY W. F. K. STOCK, F.C.S., F.I.C. JUDGING from numerous papers to be found in THE ANALYST, the analysis of White Pepper has already often been a subject of enquiry, and much useful information has been afforded by former investigators. There are, however, certain facts connected with the sophistica- tion of White Pepper which either have not attracted the attention of analysts, or which, if known, have not been made public; and it is with these facts that I shall deal in the present communication. Some time ago a firm of retail dealers in this county was proceeded against for selling White Pepper containing 4 per cent.of added mineral matter, which proved to be a mixture of sulphate and carbonate of lime. The case was strongly defended, the whole- sale merchants guaranteeing all cost. A conviction was obtained, and a fine of &2 was inflicted. The cost8 reached &34. Shortly after this the merchants wrote to me asking me to undertake the analysis of all their Peppers-Wbite and Black-and it was arranged, at my suggestion, that the analysis should show the following items :- Total Mineral Matter (Ash at low redness), Sand in Ash, Sulphate of Lime in Ash, Carbonate of Lime in Ash, Woody Fibre, Microscopical Examination.It was clear that nothing in the shape of adulteration could escape such a method of examination, and I shortly had an opportunity of proving its usefulness. I received a parcel of 5 Samples of White Pepper upon which I was asked to report as to whether they were genuine. No information was given. The results of my analyses were RS follows :- Nature of Determination. I No. j No. 1 No. 1 No. 1 No. ‘--I- I I I I tTHE ANALYST. 225 Tellicherry. Siam. 4.43 ,, Ash ... ... ... ... 1.05 o/o 1.45 o/o Fibre ... ... ... ... ... 4.86 ,, Calc. Carb. in Pepper ...... I.. -58 ,, -62 9 , Calc. Carb. in ,48h ..* ... ... 55.20 ,, 42.70 ,, I I Determination. Lampong. Penang. 4-90 ,, 6.06 ,, 2-20 o/o 2-75 O/,, -81 ,, 1.67 ,, 36.80 ,, 60.70 ,, Ash ... *.* ... ... ... Pibre ... ... ... ..* ... Calc. Carb. in Pepper ... ... ... Calc. Garb. in Ash ... ... ... * By decorticated corns is meant those pepper corns which are imported for the purpose of producing White Pepper, and from which the true cortical layer of the berry has been removed by a rough process. There ia a decorticated white known in the trade, but in this the inner layer corresponding to the liber of an exogeneous stem has also been removed, and only the clean kernel remains. 1-10 o/o 2.65 o/o 3.65 o/o 3.10 o/o 4-10 ,, 4.93 ,, 6.60 ,, 6.16 ,, -54 ,, 1.88 ,, 2.43 ,, 2.20 ,, 49.00 ,, 71.00 ,, 66.60 ,, 71.00 ,,226 THE ANALYST.Ash ... . .. ... ,.. Fibre . . , ... ... ... Calc. Carb. in Pepper ... Calc. Carb. in Ash ... ... Six samples of Blended and Graded White Pepper also said to be poduced from the above. 1.47 "lo 2.45 "lo 3.05 o/o 3-55 o/o 4-90 O/, 1.70 ,, 3.33 ,, 3.43 ,, 4.00 ), 8.23 ,, -69 ,, 1-61 ,, 2.20 ,, 2.50 ), 3.15 ), 47.0 ,, 66.0 ,, 72.0 ), 70.4 ,, 64.3 ,, Determination. 1 N o . l . 1 No.2. I No.3. 1 No.4. 1 No.5. I I I I I- I i I I- No. 6. 4.35 o/o 10.43 ,, 2.16 ,, 49.6 ,) I n connection with these analyses, I may say that I was well aware of the practice of bleaching and facing white pepper corns, having got samples of both bleached and faced corns from well known houses; but I was hardly prepared for the great differences found in the percentage of ash and the percentage portion of lime to ash in terms of carbonate exhibited by these samples.The latter comparison is an idea which has proved of the greatest service in the analysis of White Pepper. I was quite satisfied, from the figures obtained, that the samples sent ready ground had received an addition of carbonate of lime, but in order to set the matter quite at rest, a flotation experiment with chloroform was made, and the carbonate of lime, in, the form o j chalk, was duly discovered and identified. The analyses of the graded samples, in spite of the alleged increase of ash by grading, show that carbonate of lime has been added, but it was thought worth while to ascertain by experiment what foundation such an allegation could have in fact.To this end, two samples of Tellicherry Pepper were analysed ; the one undecorticated, the other decorticated, when the following results were obtained : - Determination. Decorticated. I Undecorticated. Total Ash .., ... ... ... ...I 4.02 Fibre ... ... ... ... .-. ... 10.40 27-30 Percentage proportion of Lime t o ash i n ' terms of Carbonate 1.64 6-80 62.00 These figures prove beyond doubt that the natural calcium compounds of Pepper are more abundant in the kernel than in the husk, and that instead of the calcium compounds augmenting directly as the proportion of husk, they are in inverse proportion. The analyses just given cannot be compared with analyses of bleached samples, because the calcium compounds and the fibre are profoundly affected by the bleaching process.I n dealing with this question, we must keep the fact in view that by no process of grading can the normal relation of the ash constituents of the kernels be disturbed. This fact,THE ANALYST. 227 Between Between Between Between 1 o/o & 1.5 o/o 26 Samples. 37 Samples. 18 Samples. 9 Samples. 1.50 o/o & 2.0 o/o 2.0 o/o & 2.50 o/o 2.50 o/o & 3.0 o/o I___----- joined with a knowledge of the natural percentage of ash, and the normal relation of lime to ash in terms of carbonate, gives the necessary data for determining any abnormal proportion of calcium salts in white pepper. I was assured by the grinders of these Peppers that analysts, members of this Society, were in the habit of passing, as genuine, ground White Pepper with 5 to 6 per cent.of ash. If this be true, the said analysts are not doing their duty. No genuine White Pepper, according to my experience, contains more than 2.75 per cent. of ash; and if grinders choose to bleach and face White Pepper, they must expect to share the fate of those who, a while ago, put a false complexion upon Tea. For myself, I shall pass no sample where the ash exceeds 3 per cenl;., and where I find the proportion of lime to ash, in terms of carbonate, to exceed 60 per cent. Whilst adopting these figures, I have no doubt they allow considerable latitude, for they are got from the analysis of Penang White, which is apparently lower in quality than any other White Pepper used. That the ash standard is quite fair for commercial samples is shown by the following table of analyses of 100 samples of White Pepper, collected indiscriminately by the Inspectors of Food and Drugs acting for the County of Durham :- Determinations OJ Total Ash on 100 Samples of White Pepper.Between 3.0 o/o & 3.45 o/o 10 Samples. - - ~~~~~ Lowest Ash ... ... ... 0.80 per cent. Highest ,, ... ... ... 3.45 ,, Average ,, 8.. ... ... 1.914 ,, In conclusion, I feel that when an adulteration amounting apparently to only 2 per cent. is in question, the lay mind is apt to look upon the offence with considerable leniency; and, if it were only a question of bulk and weight, it would, comparatively, be of small importance. But there are two points which the analyst must always have clearly defined in his own mind. The first is, whether the article is, according to the best of his knowledge and belief, genuine.If not, he cannot ti7uthfdly pass it aa rich, ilc matter hmv small the proportion of adulterant used ; and one has only to turn one’s thoughts to the presence of aluin in bread to see the force of this, Then he must have regard to the purpose for which the adulterant is used : and in the case of White Pepper-an article of which colour is a gniding feature of quality, there can be no doitbt that chalk or other lime compound, when present, is used to produce fictitious whiteness. The President, having invited discussion, A Member enquired whether. the sample referred to in Mr. Stock’s letter was purchased from a wholesale film, or from a retail dealer ? Mr. Bernard Dyer replied that he could add notliing to the information afforded by228 THE ANALYST.Mr. Stock, which was, that the sample in question was purchased from ‘ I a well-known firm in the City of London.” Mr. Stokes remarked that anybody who tried to get the fibre out of pepper by the ordinary method of treating it with sulphuric acid and potash, was well aware, that on treating by potash one got a gelatinous mass which would not pass through a filter. He would like to know how Mr. Stock managed to make a separation. Mr. Bernard Dyer said that he could not reply on the author’s account, as he was not acquainted with the method followed by him. But he might tell Mr. Stokes, from his own experience, that he could avoid the trouble he had mentioned by extracting his pepper first with ether, and then with alcohol. The pepper, after being thus extracted, was treated with acid and alkali in the ordinary way. By following that course himself, he had altogether overcome the difficulty which Mr. Stokes mentioned, and the fibre could be filtered easily and quickly. The President wished to draw the attention of the members to a very interesting paper on this subject, which had appeared in a recent number of Zeitschrift f. angewandte Chemie,* and of which an abstract would appear in the ANALYST shortly. Mr. Stock appeared to doubt that genuine pepper could be graded; but he (the President) ventured to think that he would be of a different opinion if he had read the paper in question. For his own part he did not like a hard and fast line being drawn with reference to the amount of ash which white pepper should contain.