CHRIST NAGAR

SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

CHAVARAPURAM, THIRUVALLOM, TRIVANDRUM 695 027

Certificate

This is to certify that this project report is a bonafide record of the work done by Arjun
Liju Reg. No for the requirement of AISSCE examination 2013-2014.





Internal examiner External examiner




Principal

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost I thank God almighty for blessing me with the confidence to take up
this work.
I express my deep felt gratitude to my biology teachers Ms. Ambili and lab assistant
Mr. Prashanth for their diligence in guiding me in the successful completion of this work.
I am deeply indebted to Rev. Fr. Mathew Arekalam for his academic encouragement and
support.
My sincere thanks go to my parents for their co-operation and willingness to help me.
Finally I thank my friends for their continuous support.

CONTENTS
I. OBJECTIVE
II. INTRODUCTION
III. THEORY
IV. EXPERIMENT-1
V. EXPERIMENT-2
VI. EXPERIMENT-3
VII. RESULT
VIII. CONCLUSION
IX. BIBLIOGRAPHY

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this project is to study the common food adulterants present in
different food stuffs by using chemicals such as Nitric acid, Sulphuric acid, and
Hydrochloric acid. These chemicals will react with the adulterants showing visible signs
of adulteration. This adulteration can be spotted in the food stuffs.

INTRODUCTION
Adulteration in food is normally present in its most crude form; prohibited substances
are either added partly or wholly substituted. Normally the contamination/adulteration
in food is done either for financial gain or due to carelessness and lack in hygienic during
processing, storing, transportation and marketing. This ultimately results in the
customer being cheated often becoming 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 imported
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 is crucial. Ignorance and unfair marketing
behavior may endanger consumer health and may 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 most serious
problems we face. Consumption of adulterated food causes serious diseases like cancer,
diarrhea, asthma, ulcers etc. Majority of fats, oils and butter are paraffin wax or castor
oil and hydrocarbons. Red chili powder is mixed with brick powder and pepper is mixed
with papaya seeds. These adulterations 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 certifies food products for their quality. Its objective is to
promote the grading and standardization of agricultural and allied commodities.





EXPERIMENT-1
Aim
To detect the presence of adulterants in fat, oil and butter.
Requirements
Test tubes, conc.H
2
SO
4
, acetic acid and conc.HNO
3
.
Procedure
Common adulterants present in ghee and oil are dyes and argemone oil.
These can be detected as follows: -
A. Adulteration of dyes in fat
Heat 1ml of fat with a mixture of 1ml of conc.H
2
SO
4
and 4ml of acetic acid.
Appearance of pink or red colour indicates the presence of dyes in fat.
B. Adulteration of argemone oil in edible oil
To small amount of oil in a test tube, add few drops of conc.HNO
3
and shake well.
Appearance of red colour in the acid layer indicates the presence of argemone oil.


EXPERIMENT-2
Aim
To detect the presence of adulteration in sugar.
Requirements
Test tubes and dil.HCl.
Procedure
Sugar is usually contaminated with washing soda and other insoluble substances. These
can be detected as follows: -
A. Adulteration of various insoluble substances in sugar
Take small amounts of sugar in a test tube and shake it with little water. Pure sugar
dissolves in water but insoluble impurities do not dissolve.
B. Adulteration of chalk powder/washing soda in sugar
To small amounts of sugar in a test tube, add few drops of dil.HCl. Brisk effervescence of
CO
2
shows the presence of chalk powder or washing soda in the given sample of sugar.



EXPERIMENT-3
Aim
To detect the presence of adulterants in samples of chilli powder, turmeric powder and
pepper.
Requirements
Test tubes, conc.HCl, dil.HNO
3
, and KI solution.
Procedure
Common adulterants present in chilli powder, turmeric powder and pepper are red
coloured salts, yellow lead salts and dried papaya seeds respectively.
These can be detected as follows: -
A. Adulteration of red lead salts in chilli powder
To a sample of chilli powder, add dil.HNO
3
. Filter the solution and add two drops of KI
solution to the filtrate. Yellow precipitate indicates the presence of lead salts in chilli
powder






B. Adulteration of yellow lead salts in 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.








C. Adulteration of brick powder in red chilli powder
Add small amounts of given red chilli powder in a beaker containing water. Brick
powder settles at the bottom while pure chilli powder floats over water.
D. Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in pepper
Add small amounts of sample of pepper to beaker containing water and stir with a
glass rod. Dried papaya seeds being lighter float over water while pepper settles at
the bottom.


RESULT
Exp
No.
Experiment Procedure Observation
1
Adulteration of dyes in
fat
Heat 1ml fat with a mixture
of 1ml of conc.H
2
SO
4
and 4ml
acetic acid
Appearance of pink
colour
2
Adulteration of
Argemone oil in
Vegetable oil
To small amount of oil in a
test tube, add few drops of
conc.HNO
3
and shake
No appearance of red
colour in acid layer

3
Adulteration of
insoluble substances on
sugar
Take small amounts of sugar
in a test tube and shake it
with little water
The entire sugar sample
dissolved
4
Adulteration of chalk
powder/washing soda
in sugar

To small amounts of sugar in
a test tube, add few drops of
dil.HCl
Brisk effervescence
5
Adulteration of red
lead salts in chilli
powder
To a sample of chilli powder,
add dil.HNO
3
. filter the
solution and add two drops
of KI solution to the filtrate
Yellow precipitate
6
Adulteration of yellow
lead salts in turmeric
powder

To a sample of turmeric
powder add conc.HCl
Appearance of magenta
colour
7
Adulteration of brick
powder in red chilli
powder
Add small amounts of given
red chilli powder in a beaker
containing water
The brick powder in the
sample settled down
while some amount of
pure chilli floats
8
Adulteration of dried
papaya seeds in pepper
Add small amounts of sample
of pepper to a beaker
containing water and stir
with a glass rod
The dried papaya seeds
float while the pure
pepper settle down


CONCLUSION
Selection of wholesome and non-adulterated food is essential for daily life to make sure
that such foods do not cause any health hazards. It is not possible to ensure wholesome
food on visual examination when the toxic contaminants are in ppm level, however
visual examination of food before purchase makes sure the absence of insects, visual
fungus, foreign matters etc. Therefore, due care taken by
the costumer at the time of purchase of food can be
of great help. Secondly, label declaration in
packaged food is very important for knowing the
ingredients and nutritional value. It also helps in
checking the freshness of the food and the expiry
date. The consumer should avoid taking food from
unhygienic places 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 shops.




BIBLIOGRAPHY
Encarta encyclopedia 2009
www.wikipedia.com
www.answers.com
www.google.com