Study of common

adulterants in fat, oil,

butter, sugar, turmeric
powder, chilli powder
and pepper

1|Page
 Mahindra World School
Chemistry Project
Exam :

Name :

Reg. No :

Year : 2019-2020

Class : XII

Date :

Subject : Chemistry

Code : 043

2|Page
 Chemistry Project
Submitted to:
The Central Board of Secondary Education
In partial fulfillment of the required for
AISSCE in Chemistry (2019-20)
by
Student name:
Reg. No:
under the supervision and guidance of
Ms. Chitra Srinivasan
Department of Chemistry

Mahindra World School

3|Page
 CERTIFICATE

Certified that this is a bonafide project work done by

Ms.________________ Reg. No. ______________of
class XII, Mahindra World School, Natham Post office,
Chengalpattu - 603004, during the academic year
2019-20.

Date:
Place:

Internal Examiner External Examiner Principal

4|Page
Acknowledgement
I, __________________of class XII would like to express my
greatest gratitude to our Principal, Ms. Suganthi Medasani, and
the people who have helped and supported me throughout my
project.

It is my humble pleasure to acknowledge my deep gratitude to

my chemistry faculty Ms. Chitra Srinivasan, for all the support,
monitoring and constant encouragement, without her guidance
this project would not have come forth. Special thanks to
Mr. Ashok who helped me for my project throughout the year.

I wish to thank my parents for their undivided support and

interest who inspired and encouraged me to go my own way
without which I would be unable to complete my project. A
special thanks to all my friends who appreciated me for my
work and motivated me.

Last but not least, I would like to thank the almighty for giving
me strength, focus and constant determination in the successful
completion of my project.

5|Page
Index

S.NO. CONTENTS PAGE NO.

1. Objective 07

2. Introduction 08

3. Adulterants in Common Food 09

4. Impact of Adulterants 10

5. Government Act’s 11

6. Experiment 1 12

7. Experiment 2 13

8. Experiment 3 14

9. Observation 16

10. Precaution 18

11. Conclusion 19

12. Bibliography 20

6|Page
Objective
To study the common food adulterant in fat, oil, butter,
turmeric powder, chilli powder and pepper.

7|Page
Introduction
 Food being the basic necessity of life, a healthy diet is
important for the health of the people

 From prehistoric times the food was adulterated with

small stuffs like salt for preservation, wine as a
sweetener, cooking in fire to conserve food for later
use

 In the middle ages, adulteration of food was done in

larger amount for economic gain. Spices were
combined with nutshells, stones or dust, Lead was
added to wine. Chalk or plaster was added with flour
and milk to provide colour

 By the end of 19th century, the rise of the analytic

chemistry enabled the manufactures to mask food
deterioration in ways that were tough to detect.

8|Page
Adulterants in common food
Most of the adulterants used are cheap substitutes which
are easily available. For example :

 Adulterants in fats, oils and butter are paraffin wax,

castor oil and hydrocarbons
 Adulterants in chilli powder and turmeric powder are
brick powder and yellow lead powder
 Sugar is contaminated with washing soda
 Pepper is adulterated with dry papaya seeds

9|Page
Impact of adulterants
 Adulteration of food causes several health problems
in humans. These include stomach ache, body ache,
anaemia, paralysis, incidence of tumours,
abnormalities in skin and eyes.
 Due to food adulteration people suffer from heart
diseases, skin disease, asthma and other chronic
diseases

10 | P a g e
Government ACTs
 The Adaptation of Laws(No.3) Order, 1956
 The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)
Act, 1964 (49 of 1964)
 The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)
Act, 1971 (41 of 1971)
 The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)
Act, 1976 (34 of 1976)
 The Prevention of Food Adulteration (Amendment)
Act, 1986 (70of 1986)

11 | P a g e
EXPERIMENT 1
AIM :
To detect the presence of adulterants in fat, oil and butter.

APPARATUS REQUIRED :
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:
1. Adulteration of paraffin wax and hydrocarbons 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
2. Adulteration of dyes in fat. Heat 1ml of fat with a mixture of
1ml of concentrated Sulphuric acid and 4ml of acetic acid.
Appearance of pink or red colour indicates presence of dye
in fat
3. Adulteration of argemone oil in edible oils. To small amount
of oil in a test-tube, add few drops of concentrated HNO3 and
shake. Appearance of red colour in the acid layer indicates
presence of argemone oil

12 | P a g e
Experiment 2
AIM :
To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar.

APPARATUS REQUIRED :
Test-tubes, dilute hydrochloric acid

PROCEDURE :
Sugar is usually contaminated with washing soda and other
insoluble substances which are detected as follows:

1. 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
2. Adulteration of chalk powder, washing soda in sugar. To
small amount of sugar in a test-tube, add few drops of HCl.
Brisk effervescence of CO2 shows that the presence of chalk
powder or washing soda in the given sample of sugar

13 | P a g e
EXPERIMENT 3
AIM :
To detect the presence of adulterants in samples of chilli powder,
turmeric powder and pepper

REQUIREMENTS :
Test-tubes, concentrated hydrochloric acid, dilute nitric acid, KI
solution

PROCEDURE :
Common adulterants present in chill powder, turmeric powder and
pepper are red coloured lead salts, yellow lead salts and dried
papaya seeds respectively. They are detected as follows:
1. Adulteration of yellow lead salts to turmeric powder
To a sample of turmeric powder add concentrated
Hydrochloric acid. Appearance of magenta colour shows the
presence of yellow oxides of lead in turmeric powder

2. Adulteration of red lead salts in chilli powder

To a sample of chilli powder, add diluted HNO Filter solution
and add 2 drops of potassium iodide solution to the filtrate.
Yellow ppt. indicates the presence of lead salts in chilli
powder

14 | P a g e
3. 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
pare chili powder floats over water

4. 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

15 | P a g e
Observation
EXP
EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE OBSERVATION
NO.

Heat 1mL of fat

with a mixture of
Adulteration of dyes Appearance of
1 1mL of conc.
in fat pink colour
H2SO4 and 4mL
of acetic acid

To small amount
Adulteration of of oil in a test
No red colour
2 argemone oil and tube, add few
observed
edible oils drops of conc.
HNO3 and shake

Pure sugar
To small amount
Adulteration of dissolves in water
of sugar in a test
3 various insoluble but insoluble
tube, add some
substances in sugar impurities do not
water and shake
dissolve

Adulteration of To small amount

No brisk
chalk powder, of sugar in test
4 effervescence
washing soda in tube, add few
observed
sugar drops of dil. HCl

16 | P a g e
EXP
EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE OBSERVATION
NO.

Adulteration of
To sample of
yellow lead salts Appearance of
5 turmeric powder,
to turmeric magenta colour
add conc. HCl
powder

To sample of chilli
powder, add dil.
Adulteration of
HNO3. Filter the No yellow
6 red lead salts in
solution and add 2 precipitate
chilli powder
drops of KI solution
to the filtrate

Brick powder
Add small amount
Adulteration of settles at the
of given red chilli
7 brick powder in bottom while pure
powder in a beaker
chilli powder chilli powder floats
containing water
over water

Add small amount Dried papaya

of sample of seeds being
Adulteration of
pepper to beaker lighter floats over
8 dried papaya
containing water water while pure
seeds in pepper
and stir with a pepper settles at
glass rod the bottom

17 | P a g e
RECATIONS
By taking a few precautions, we can escape from consuming
adulterated products

 Take only packed items of well-known companies

 Buy items from reliable retail shops and recognized outlets

 Check the ISI mark or Agmark

 Buy products of only air tight popular brands

 Avoid craziness for artificially coloured sweets and buy only

from reputed shops

 Do not buy sweets or snacks kept in open

 Avoid buying things from street side vendors

18 | P a g e
Conclusion
 Selection of non-adulterated food is essential for daily life
which do not cause any health hazards. Visual examination of
the food products is a must which ensures the absence of
insects, visual fungus, foreign matters, etc.
 Label declaration of packed food is very important for knowing
the ingredients and nutritional values. Consumer should avoid
taking food from an unhygienic place and prepared under
unhygienic condition. It is always better to buy certified food
from reputed shops

19 | P a g e
Bibliography
 http://www.fnbnews.com/Top-News/Effects-of-food-adulteration-on-
human-health

 https://www.history.com/news/food-fraud-a-brief-history-of-the-
adulteration-of-food

 https://www.academia.edu/5832784/Chemistry_Project_on_STUDY_OF
_ADULTERANTS_IN_FOOD_INVESTIGATORY_PROJECT_STUDY_O
F_ADULTERANTS_IN_FOOD-STUFFS

 https://www.scribd.com/document/336156275/Adulterants-in-FOod-
Stuffs-Class-12th-Chemistry-Investigatory

 Help of Teachers

20 | P a g e