| Per cent. | |
| Volatile at 100° | 12·69 |
| Nitrogenous substances, as protein | 13·19 |
| Ethereal extract | 13·35 |
| Ash | 7·14 |
The organic adulterants sometimes met with in cayenne (flour, mustard seed, husks, etc.), are detected by means of the microscope. Among the mineral substances said to be employed as colouring agents, such as iron ochre, brick-dust, red lead, and vermilion, the two former are of more frequent occurrence, and may be recognised upon an examination of the ash obtained by the incineration of the sample.
An adulterant of pepper, known in the trade as “Poivrette” or “Pepperette,” has recently made its appearance in England. It forms a cream-coloured powder, much resembling the inner layer of the pepper-berry in bulk and cellular structure, is exported from Italy, and evidently consists of ground olive-stones, as is indicated by the following analyses, made by J. Campbell Brown:[146]—
| Ash. | Matters Soluble by boiling in Dilute Acid. | Albuminous and other matters Soluble in Alkali. | Woody Fibre Insoluble in Acid and Alkali. | Starch. | |
| White pepperette | 1·33 | 38·32 | 14·08 | 48·48 | None |
| Black pepperette | 2·47 | 34·55 | 17·66 | 47·69 | „ |
| Ground almond shells | 2·05 | 23·53 | 24·79 | 51·68 | „ |
| Ground olive stones | 1·61 | 39·08 | 15·04 | 45·38 | „ |
The extent to which the various forms of pepper are fraudulently contaminated in the United States is illustrated by the fact that, out of 386 samples of the condiment examined by the chemists of the New York, Massachusetts and National State Boards of Health, 236 (or about 61 per cent.) were found to be adulterated.
SPICES.
As is the case with mustard and pepper, the adulteration of the ordinary spices is exceedingly prevalent in the United States. Probably those most subject to admixture, are cloves, mace, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger. The fact that these condiments are frequently offered for sale in a ground state furnishes an opportunity to incorporate with them various cheaper vegetable substances, of which the manufacturer too often makes use. For the detection of these additions the use of the microscope is of pre-eminent importance; and, in this regard, no more useful information could be afforded than by quoting the following remarks, furnished to the author by Clifford Richardson, Assistant Chemist of the United States Department of Agriculture, who has lately made a valuable contribution to the literature of spice adulteration.[147]
“Spices consist of certain selected parts of aromatic or pungent plants possessing a characteristic anatomical structure and proximate composition which, when they have been carefully studied and recorded, serve as a means of recognising the pure substances when under examination, and distinguishing them from the different structure and composition of the adulterants which have been added to them.
“To carry on an investigation of this description a limited knowledge of botanical physiology (as well as of proximate chemical analysis) is therefore necessary. For the physiological part, the use of the microscope, as a means of determining structure, is necessary.