CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Debanjan Chakraborty of
class XII of Kendriya Vidyalaya GC CRPF has
successfully completed project report in chemistry
on the topic “ Study of common food adulterants in
fat, oil, butter, sugar, turmeric powder, chilli
powder and pepper” for the partial fulfillment of
AISSCE as prescribed by the CBSE in the year
2020 - 2021.
Signature of the Guide:
Signature of the principal:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my
chemistry mentor Mrs. Samarpreet Kaur, for her
vital support, guidance and encouragement -
without which this project would not have come
forth.
INDEX:
Sl no. Content
1 Objective
2 Introduction
3 Theory
4 Experiment 1
5 Experiment 2
6 Experiment 3
7 Conclusion
8 Bibliography
OBJECTIVE
The Objective of this project is to study some of
the common food adulterants present in different
food stuffs like fat, oil, butter, sugar, turmeric
powder, chilli powder and pepper.
INTRODUCTION
Adulteration in food is normally present in its most
crude form; prohibited substances are either added
or partly or wholly substituted. Normally the
contamination/adulteration in food is done either
for financial gain or due to carelessness and lack in
proper hygienic condition of processing, storing,
transportation and marketing. This ultimately
results that the consumer is either cheated or often
become victim of diseases. Such types of
adulteration are quite common in developing
countries or backward countries. It is equally
important for the consumer to know the common
adulterants and their effect on health.
THEORY
The increasing number of food producers and the outstanding
amount of import foodstuffs enables the producers to mislead and
cheat consumers. To differentiate those who take advantage of
legal rules from the ones who commit food adulteration is very
difficult. The consciousness of consumers would be crucial.
Ignorance and unfair market behavior may endanger consumer
health and misleading can lead to poisoning. So we need simple
screening tests for their detection. In the past few decades,
adulteration of food has become one of the serious problems.
Consumption of adulterated food causes serious diseases like
cancer, diarrhoea, asthma, ulcers, etc. Majority of fats, oils and
butter are paraffin wax, castor oil and hydrocarbons. Red chilli
powder is mixed with brick powder and pepper is mixed with dried
papaya seeds. These adulterants can be easily identified by simple
chemical tests. Several agencies have been set up by the
Government of India to remove adulterants from food stuffs.
AGMARK - acronym for agricultural marketing....this
organization certifies food products for their quality. Its objective
is to promote the Grading and Standardization of agricultural and
allied commodities.
EXPERIMENT 1
To detect the presence of adulterants in fat, oil and butter.
REQUIREMENTS:
Test-tube, acetic anhydride, conc. H2SO4, acetic acid, conc.
HNO3.
PROCEDURE:
Common adulterants present in ghee and oil are paraffin wax,
hydrocarbons, dyes and argemone oil. These are detected as
follows :
(i) Adulteration of paraffin wax and hydrocarbon in vegetable
ghee Heat small amount of vegetable ghee with: acetic
anhydride. Droplets of oil floating on the surface of unused
acetic anhydride indicates the presence of wax or
hydrocarbons.
(ii) Adulteration of dyes in fat Heat 1mL of fat with a mixture
of 1mL of conc. sulphuric acid and 4mL of acetic acid.
Appearance of pink or red colour indicates presence of dye
in fat.
(iii) Adulteration of argemone oil in edible oils To small amount
of oil in a test-tube, add few drops of conc. HNO3 and
shake. Appearance of red colour in the acid layer indicates
presence of argemone oil.
Observations:
(i) Appearance of oil floating on the surface.
(ii) Appearance of pink colour.
(iii) No red colour observed.
Results: Adulteration of paraffin wax, hydrocarbons, dyes
in oil and ghee is shown by this whole experiment.
EXPERIMENT 2
To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar
REQUIREMENTS:
Test-tubes, dil. HCl.
PROCEDURE:
Sugar is usually contaminated with washing soda and other
insoluble substances which are detected as follows :
(i) Adulteration of various insoluble substances in sugar
Take small amount of sugar in a test-tube and shake
it with little water. Pure sugar dissolves in water but
insoluble impurities do not dissolve.
(ii) Adulteration of chalk powder, washing soda in sugar
To small amount of sugar in a test-tube, add few
drops of dil. HCl. Brisk effervescence of CO2 shows
the presence of chalk powder or washing soda in the
given sample of sugar.
Observations:
(i) Pure sugar dissolves in water but insoluble impurities do not
dissolve.
(ii) No brisk effervescence observed.
Results:
Adulteration of various insoluble substances in sugar is present
but adulteration of chalk powder, washing soda in sugar is not
done here.
Experiment 3
To detect the presence of adulterants in samples of chilli powder,
turmeric powder and pepper
REQUIREMENTS:
Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3, KI solution
PROCEDURE:
Common adulterants present in chilli powder, turmeric powder
and pepper are red coloured lead salts, yellow lead salts and dried
papaya seeds respectively. They are detected as follows :
(i) Adulteration of red lead salts in chilli powder To a sample
of chilli powder, add dil. HNO3. Filter the solution and add
2 drops of potassium iodide solution to the filtrate. Yellow
ppt. indicates the presence of lead salts in chilli powder.
(ii) Adulteration of yellow lead salts to turmeric powder To a
sample of turmeric powder add conc. HCl. Appearance of
magenta colour shows the presence of yellow oxides of lead
in turmeric powder.
(iii) Adulteration of brick powder in red chilli powder Add small
amount of given red chilli powder in beaker containing
water. Brick powder settles at the bottom while pure chilli
powder floats over water.
(iv) Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in pepper Add small
amount of sample of pepper to a beaker containing water
and stir with a glass rod. Dried papaya seeds being lighter
float over water while pure pepper settles at the bottom.
Observatios:
(i) No yellow ppt.
(ii) Appearance of magenta colour
(iii) Brick powder settles at the bottom while pure chilli
powder floats over water.
(iv) Dried papaya seeds being lighter float over water while
pure pepper settles at the bottom.
Results:
All the samples are adulterated with different types of
chemical and elements except the chilli powder.
Conclusion:
Selection of wholesome and non-adulterated food is
essential for daily life to make sure that such foods do not
cause any health hazard. It is not possible to ensure
wholesome food only on visual examination when the toxic
contaminants are present in ppm level. However, visual
examination of the food before purchase makes sure to
ensure absence of insects, visual fungus, foreign matters,
etc. Therefore, due care taken by the consumer at the time
of purchase of food after thoroughly examining can be of
great help. Secondly, label declaration on packed food is
very important for knowing the ingredients and nutritional
value. It also helps in checking the freshness of the food and
the period of best before use. The consumer should avoid
taking food from an unhygienic place and food being
prepared under unhygienic conditions. Such types of food
may cause various diseases. Consumption of cut fruits being
sold in unhygienic conditions should be avoided. It is
always better to buy certified food from reputed shop.
Biblography:
~ http://www.wikipedia.com/
~ http://www.icbse.com/
~ www.icbse.com
