Composition of Pepper Ash
Ingredients
Directions
Potassa 31·36 Soda 4·56 Magnesia 16·34 Lime 14·59 Ferric oxide 0·38 Phosphoric acid 10·85 Sulphuric acid 12·09 Chlorine 9·52
The list of adulterations used as admixtures to pepper, as well as to most other ground condiments and spices, is quite extensive, and includes such cheap and neutral substances as ship-bread, corn, ground cocoanut shells, beans, peas, hulls of mustard seed, sand, etc., etc. It is stated that in England large quantities of preparations consisting of linseed-meal, mustard husks and rice-meal, known to the trade respectively as P.D., H.P.D., and W.P.D., are very generally employed in the adulteration of pepper. P.D. (pepper-dust), would appear to also signify the sweepings collected from pepper factories, and sometimes fortified with cayenne, the manufacture of which article has given rise to a special industry. It is utilised as a diluent of the various spices, the sophisticated products being sold as “P.D. pepper,” “P.D. cloves,” “P.D. cinnamon,” etc. Unfortunately the character of most of the adulterants of pepper, as of other spices, is such, that little assistance is afforded the analyst by chemical tests. A microscopic examination of the suspected sample furnishes far more trustworthy information and should in all instances be employed, comparative observations being made with an article of known purity.
The appearance of several of the starch granules of various flours often found in adulterated condiments and spices is represented in Plate IX.
In the special case of pepper, it is of advantage to make chemical determinations of the moisture, ash, piperin and resin.
_Moisture._--The proportion of moisture is estimated by the ordinary method of drying a weighed portion of the pepper in a platinum capsule at 100°, and noting the loss in weight sustained.
_Ash._--The dry sample is incinerated, and the amount of mineral residue determined. As already intimated, the proportion of sand present is of especial import.
_Piperin and Resin._--The pepper is repeatedly digested with absolute alcohol, the mixture filtered and the filtrate evaporated to dryness over a water-bath. The extract is weighed and then treated with sodium hydroxide solution, in which the resin is soluble. The alkaline liquid is then removed, and the remaining piperin dissolved in alcohol, the solution filtered, evaporated to dryness, and the weight of the residue determined. The proportion of piperin in unadulterated pepper ranges from 4·5 to 5·5 per cent., that of resin from 1·7 to 2 per cent.
Niederstadt,[142] from the results of his investigations, concludes, that genuine pepper should yield as much as 7·66 per cent. of piperin, and employs this factor for estimating the purity of mixtures; thus, a sample adulterated with palm kernels and husks, to the extent of about 80 per cent., contained but 1·62 per cent. of piperin.
Pepper contains a greater proportion of starch than some of the substances employed in its adulteration. The following method, suggested by Lenz,[143] may be used for the determination of this constituent:--4 grammes of the sample are digested for several hours in a flask with 250 c.c. of water, with occasional shaking, and the decoction decanted upon a filter. The residue is washed and returned to the flask, which is filled with water to a volume of 200 c.c., 20 c.c. of hydrochloric acid (sp. gr. 1·121) are added, the flask connected with an ascending Liebig’s condenser, and heated on the water-bath for three hours. After cooling, the contents of the flask are filtered into a half-litre flask, and the filtrate carefully neutralised with sodium hydroxide and diluted up to the 500 c.c. mark. It is finally tested by Fehling’s solution. The clarification of the hot solution is assisted by the addition of a few drops of zinc chloride. Lenz obtained by this process the following percentages of sugar, calculated on the ash-free substances:--
Black pepper 52 White pepper 60 Palm-nut meal 22·6 Pepper husks 16·3
The application of this method to the examination of commercial American peppers, when they contain as adulterants substances rich in starch, is obviously of little value. A sample of German pepper, sold as “_Pfefferbruch_,” recently analysed by Hilger,[144] had the following composition:--
Per cent. Pepper husks 50 Palm nut meal 30 Pepper dust 15 Paprika 1 Brick-dust 4
_Cayenne Pepper._--Cayenne pepper is the ground berry and pods of _Capsicum annuum_. Its well-known active properties, which were formerly ascribed to an acrid oil termed _capsicin_, have lately been shown to be due to the presence of the crystalline compound _capsaicin_ (C_{9}H_{14}O_{5}), fusing at 55°, and capable of volatilisation at 115° without decomposition. The proportion of moisture in cayenne pepper is about 12 per cent.; the alcoholic and ethereal extracts should approximate, respectively, 25 and 9 per cent. The ash ranges from 5·5 to 6 per cent., of which nearly one-half should be soluble in water. Strohmer[145] has analysed Hungarian cayenne, known as “Paprika”; his results were as follows:--
------------------------------------+-----------+-----------+--------- | | | Entire | Seeds. | Husks. | Fruit. ------------------------------------+-----------+-----------+--------- | per cent. | per cent. |per cent. Water and volatile matter at 100° | 8·12 | 14·75 | 11·94 Nitrogenous substances, as protein | 18·31 | 10·69 | 13·88 Fat | 28·54 | 5·48 | 15·26 Ethereal extract (free of nitrogen) | 24·33 | 38·73 | 32·63 Fibre | 17·50 | 23·73 | 21·09 Ash | 3·20 | 6·62 | 5·20 Nitrogen | 2·93 | 1·71 | 2·22 ------------------------------------+-----------+-----------+---------
A commercial brand of the same article had the following composition:--
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]--
---------------------+-----+----------+----------+----------+--------- | | Matters |Albuminous| Woody | | | Soluble | and | Fibre | | |by boiling| other |Insoluble | | | in | matters | in Acid | | | Dilute | Soluble | and | |Ash. | Acid. |in Alkali.| 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.
FOOTNOTES:
[141] ‘Analyst,’ 1886, p. 186.
[142] Rép. anal. Chem., iii. p. 68.
[143] Zeit. f. anal. Chem., 1884, p. 501.
[144] Archiv. der Pharm., 233, p. 825.
[145] Chem. Centralb., 1884, p. 577.
[146] ‘Analyst,’ Feb. 1887, p. 23; Mar. p. 47.
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.
“The structure of the plant parts which constitute the spices and their adulterants as well, is characterised by the presence or absence of different forms of cells and of starch, and their relative arrangement. At least, this is as far as it is necessary to go from the analyst’s point of view. By studies of sections of pure whole spices one must become familiar with the forms usually met with in the spices and those which are prominent in adulterants and be able to recognise the presence of starch and by the character of the granules to determine their source.
“The common forms of cells which are met with in the spices, and with which one should be familiar, are known as parenchyma cells, sclerenchyma cells, those of fibro-vascular bundles, spiral and dotted cells, and those of peculiar form in the cortex and epidermis.
“_Parenchyma_ consists of thin-walled cells, such as are well illustrated in the interior of a corn-stalk and are found in the centre of the pepper kernel. They are often filled with starch, as in the cereals and pepper, but at times are without it, as in the mustard seed.
“_Sclerenchyma_, or stone cells, are of a ligneous character, their walls being greatly thickened. They are commoner in the adulterants than in the spices, and are well illustrated in the shell of the cocoa-nut, in clove stems, and a few are seen in pepper hulls.
“_Spiral and Dotted Cells_ are found in woody tissue, and their characteristics are denoted by their names. They are more commonly found in adulterants, and their presence in large amounts is conclusive, in many instances, of impurity. They may be seen in sections of cedar-wood and in cocoa-nut shells, and to a small extent in pepper husks.
“_The Fibro-vascular Bundles_, as their name implies, are aggregations which appear to the eye, in some instances, as threads running through the tissue of the plant. They are easily seen in the cross-section of the corn-stalk, and are common in ground ginger, having resisted comminution from their fibrous nature. They are made up of cells of various forms.
“_The Cells of the Cortex and Epidermis_ are in many cases extremely characteristic in form, and of great value for distinguishing the origin of the substances under examination. They are too numerous in shape to be particularly described, and are well illustrated in the husk of mustard, and the pod of _Capsicum_ or cayenne.
“Other forms of tissue are also met with, but not so prominently as to render it advisable to burden the memory with them at first, or to seek them before they are met.
“These forms of cells and their combinations which have been described, present in addition some peculiarities, aside from their structure, which assist in distinguishing them.
“Parenchyma is optically inactive, and is not stained by iodine solution, except in so far as its contents are concerned. Sclerenchyma, the stone cell, is optically active, and in the dark field of the microscope, with crossed Nicols, appears as shining silvery cells, displaying their real structure. The fibro-vascular bundles are stained yellowish brown by iodine, and are thus differentiated from the surrounding tissue.
“Starch is stained a deep blue, or blue black, by iodine solution, and since the contents of the parenchyma cells often consist of much starch, the parenchyma in these cases seems to assume this colour.
“To distinguish some of the peculiarities of structure which have been mentioned requires some little practice and skill, but not more than is readily acquired with a short experience. There are however some aids which should not be neglected.
“In the ground spices it will be found more difficult to recognise the anatomy of the parts than in a carefully prepared section. The hardest parts are often the largest particles, and scarcely at all transparent. The mounting of the material in water or glycerine will render them more so, but it is necessary to employ some other means of which two are available. A solution of chloral hydrate in water, 8 to 5, serves after 24 hours to make the particles less obscure. In many instances also, it has been found advisable to bleach the deep colour by Schulze’s method, using nitric acid of 1·1 sp. gr. and chlorate of potash. When this is done, hard tissue is broken down and rendered transparent where otherwise nothing could be seen. As examples, olive stones and cocoa-nut shells will serve. Without treatment little can be made out of their structure.
“Of course, it is plain that the detection of starch must be in a portion of the material which has received no treatment, and that progress must be made from the least to the most violent reagents.
“For this work an elaborate microscope is unnecessary. It should, for work with starches, have objectives of ½ and 1/5 inch equivalent focus, arrangements for polarising light, and if possible, a condenser system. Many good stands are to-day made at reasonable prices which will serve the purpose.”
The microscopical appearance of various starches in polarised light is shown in Plate IX. Plate XII. exhibits several spices, under polarised light, in a pure and adulterated state. Those represented are:--
Ginger, pure, and adulterated with foreign starch.
Cinnamon and Cassia; the pure barks, ground, showing the relative greater frequency of fibro-vascular bundles in the former.
Cayenne, pure, and adulterated with rice starch.
The chemical analysis of spices, although usually of minor importance, often serves to confirm the results secured by aid of the microscope. The principal determinations required are the ash, oil, starch, and sugar. The more common forms of spice adulteration are the following:--
_Cloves._--This spice is said to be sometimes deprived of its volatile oil before being put on the market. In the genuine article the proportion of oil seldom falls below 17 per cent. The oil is readily estimated by distilling the suspected sample with water. The usual adulterants of ground cloves consist of clove-stems, allspice, flour and burnt shells.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Chili | 1 tsp (2.7g) | 8 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
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