Study of

common food
adulterants
Aim: Study of common food adulterants in fat, BY –
oil, butter, sugar, turmeric power, chili powder
and pepper. Chaitanya Pantula
12-D
 SNBP INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
MORWADI, PIMPRI, PUNE
CBSE AFFILIATION NO. 1130522

Certificate
This is to certify that Chaitanya Pantula of Class – 12D
Has successfully completed the project-

“Study of common food adulterants” under the guidance and

observation of ____________________________________

During the academic session 2022-2023, in the partial fulfillment of

Practical Examination conducted by AISSCE-2023.

Signature of the Teacher with Date-

Signature of the Principal with Date-

School Seal:

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 SNBP INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
MORWADI, PIMPRI, PUNE
CBSE AFFILIATION NO. 1130522

Acknowledgement

I, Chaitanya Pantula
Student of SNBP International School, Morwadi, Pimpri, Pune; affiliated
to CBSE Board vide Affiliation No. 1130522; would like to express my
gratitude to the Institution for the support and knowledge I received in the
school. I feel in debt towards Principal Sweta Paithankar Madam and my
teacher _______________________________________
Who gave me an opportunity to do the project-
“Study of common food adulterants”.
I, once again thank the school for providing me all the facilities and
excellent education. I am also grateful to my friends and family for their
faith in me.
Thank You All!

Signature of Student —————————————-

Date _____________________
Signature of the Receiver___________________

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 INDEX
Sr. No. Topic Page Number

1. Cover Page 1

2. Certificate 2

3. Acknowledgement 3

4. Index 4

5. Statement Problem 5

6. Objective 5

7. Introduction 5

8. Problem Question 6

9. Hypothesis 6

10. Materials Needed 6

11. Method/Procedure 7

11(a) Ghee and Oil 7-10

11(b) Sugar 11-12

11(c) Chili Powder, Turmeric Powder and Pepper 13-15

12. Observations 16

13. Conclusions 17

14. Bibliography 18

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Statement Problem:
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.

Objective:
The aim or objective of this experiment is to check whether a substance is
contaminated or not, and if it is, then what are the contaminants or
adulterants.

Introduction:
This experiment is done to check the adulteration of everyday, household
items to check how much of adulterants we are consuming everyday
without us knowing. We know that sometimes sugar is contaminated
with washing soda and chalk powder and also chili powder is
contaminated with red dyes and brick powder. This experiment helps us
to get a concrete conclusion about adulteration.

Problem Question and hypothesis:

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 The problem question for this experiment is –

 Are everyday substances used by us like sugar, oil, turmeric

powder, etc, adulterated?
 What are the adulterants in the adulterated substances?

Hypothesis:

My hypothesis for this experiment is that all the substances tested for
adulteration will show a positive result, i.e. all the substances tested will
be adulterated.

Materials Required:
Test-tube, acetic anhydride, conc. H2SO4, acetic acid, conc. HNO3, dilute
HCl, concentrated HCl, dilute HNO3, KI solution.

Acetic Anhydride Acetic acid Sulphuric Acid Nitric Acid

(HNO3)

Methods/Procedure:

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This experiment is an experimental investigation and
observation based experiment. The procedure of this experiment
is as given below-

GHEE AND OIL

Aim:

To detect the presence of adulterants in ghee and oil.

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 by the
following tests as follows:
Adulteration of paraffin wax and hydrocarbon in ghee:

Heat small amount of ghee with acetic anhydride. Droplets of oil

floating on the surface of unused acetic anhydride indicate the
presence of wax or hydrocarbons.

Usually in India vanaspati oil (fully or partially hydrogenated

vegetable cooking oil) is added with ghee in order to
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adulterate ghee.

For the detection of vanaspati in ghee, small amount of

suspected sample is taken in a test tube and heated gently.
Small amount of sugar and hydrochloric acid is added to it.
The test tube is then shaken well for at least five minutes. The
presence of pink colour confirms the presence of vanaspati oil
in ghee.

Adulteration of dyes in fat:

Take 1ml of suspected fat and heat it with a mixture of 1ml of
concentrated sulphuric acid and 4ml of acetic acid.
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Appearance of pink or red colour indicates presence of dye in the
fat tested.

Adulterated Non-adulterated

Adulteration of argemone oil in edible oils:

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Argemone oil is alternative botanical source of sanguinarine.
To small amount of oil in a test-tube, add few drops of
concentrated HNO3 and shake the test-tube.

If the solution turns red then the appearance of this red colour in
the acid layer indicates presence of argemone oil.

SUGAR

Aim:
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To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar.

Requirements:

Test-tubes and dilute Hydrochloric Acid (HCl).

Procedure:

Sugar is usually contaminated with washing soda, chalk powder

and other insoluble substances which are detected as follows:

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.

Adulteration of chalk powder, washing soda in sugar:

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To small amount of sugar in a test-tube, add few drops of
dilute HCl. Brisk effervescence of CO2 shows the presence
of chalk powder or washing soda in sugar.

Non-adulterated Adulterated

CHILI POWDER, TURMERIC POWDER AND PEPPER

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Aim:
To detect the presence of adulterants in samples of chili
powder, turmeric powder and pepper.
Requirements:

Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3, KI solution

Procedure:

Common adulterants present in chili powder, turmeric

powder and pepper are red colored lead salts or brick
powder, yellow lead salts and dried papaya seeds
respectively. They are detected as follows:

Adulteration of red lead salts in chili powder:

To a sample of chili 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 chili powder. Also if chili powder in water shows
coloured streaks, it means there is dye in the chili powder.

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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.

Magenta color of the solution shows that the turmeric powder

tested for adulteration is adulterated.

Adulteration of brick powder in red chili powder:

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Add small amount of given red chili powder in beaker
containing water. Brick powder settles at the bottom while
pure chili powder floats over water. When the chili
powder is rubbed and there is a gritty feel or texture to
the chili powder, it indicates that it has been adulterated.

Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in pepper:

Add small amount of sample of pepper to beaker containing

water and stir with a glass rod. Dried papaya seeds being
lighter float over water while pure pepper settles at the
bottom.

Observations:

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Analysis of Data:

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 The observations from the above experiments are
analyzed and the following conclusions are made –

Ghee Oil and Fats –

 Oil floating on the surface of unused acetic anhydride

indicates the presence of wax or hydrocarbons.
 The presence of pink colour confirms the presence of
vanaspati oil in ghee.
 Appearance of pink or red colour indicates presence of dye in
the fat tested.
 If the solution turns red then the appearance of this red colour
in the acid layer indicates presence of argemone oil.
Sugar –

 Insoluble impurities do not dissolve so this shows

impurities in sugar

 Brisk effervescence of CO2 shows the presence of chalk

powder or washing soda in sugar.

Chili powder, turmeric powder and pepper –

 Yellow ppt. indicates the presence of lead salts in chili powder.

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 Coloured streaks, it means there is dye in the chili powder.

 Appearance of magenta colour shows the presence of yellow oxides

of lead in turmeric powder.

 Brick powder settles at the bottom while pure chili powder floats
over water.

 Dried papaya seeds being lighter float over water while pure pepper
settles at the bottom.

Conclusion:
The conclusion of this experiment is that almost all the
cooking materials and food substances we use and consume
daily are adulterated. It is also concluded from this
experiment that we can get clear and visible observations

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which can help us to differentiate between adulterated
substances and non-adulterated substances.

This conclusion further proves that our original hypothesis

was correct.

Limitations of the study:

For some of the above experiments, the observations may
differ as all the substances tested for adulteration may not be
adulterated.
Also the chemicals used for testing may have been used in
excess or in less quantity which can change the observations
accordingly.

Bibliography:

 https://www.slideshare.net/ARSHGERA1/study-
of-common-food-adulterants-in-fat-oil-butter-sugar-
turmeric-power-chili-powder-and-pepper
 https://thechemistryguru.com/chemistry-project-
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 detection-adultration-food/
 https://www.academia.edu/5832784/
Chemistry_Project_on_STUDY_OF_ADULTERANTS
_IN_FOOD_INVESTIGATORY_PROJECT_STUDY_
OF_ADULTERANTS_IN_FOOD_STUFFS

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