CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Master ABHINAV SINGH of class XII-A has

successfully completed his chemistry project file. He has taken Proper
care and utmost sincerity in completion of his project. All the works
related to the project was done by the candidate himself.
The approach towards the subject has been sincere and
scientific.

I certify that this project is up to my expectation and as per the

guidelines issued by the CBSE.

…..……………………

External Examiner

(PGT Chemistry) Principal

 Acknowledgement
I feel proud to present my investigatory project in chemistry “To study
of adulterants in food stuff” This project would not have been feasible
without the proper guidance of chemistry teacher Mrs. Saloni Malpotra.
who guided me throughout this project in every possible way. An
investigatory project involves various difficult lab experiments, which
have to obtain the observations and conclude the reports on a meaningful
note. Thereby, I would like to thank Mrs. Saloni Malpotra for guiding me
on a systematic basis and ensuring that I completed all my experiments
with ease.I hope that this project will prove to be a breeding ground for
the next generation of students and will guide them in every possible
way. I would also like to extend my gratitude to my principal,
Mrs.Yamini Raju who provided for the resources to complete my project
on time with ease.I would also like to thank my family and friends for
their help and support.

ABHINAV

SINGH

XII-A

SCIENCE
 Preface
In Terms of the directives of the CBSE, Learning of
chemistry should be activity oriented wherein students
besides grasping the theory could easily apply the
concepts and get it easily.

File covers a life with normal amenities ensuring good

living, free from diseases and longevity of to normal
expectations. Further a healthy body is the very
foundation for all human activities.

The project file contains an application based project

which is much doer to the real world and provides the
doer a new eye to visualize the world in terms of
chemistry.
 Topic
Study of
adulterants in
food stuff
 Contents
1. Objective
2. Introduction
3. Precautions
4. Theory
5. Experiment 1
6. Experiment 2
7. Experiment 3
8. Observation
9. Conclusion
10. Bibliography
 Objective
The Objective of this project is to study some
of the common food adulterants present in
different food stuffs.
 Introduction
Food is one of the basic necessities for sustenance of life. Pure,
fresh and healthy diet is most essential for the health of the
people. It is no wonder to say that community health is
national wealth.

Adulteration of food-stuffs was so rampant, widespread

and persistent that nothing short of a somewhat drastic
remedy in the form of a comprehensive legislation became the
need of the hour.

To check this kind of anti-social evil a concerted and

determined onslaught was launched by the Government by
introduction of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Bill in the
Parliament to herald an era of much needed hope and relief for
the consumers at large.

About the middle of the 19th century chemical and

microscopal knowledge had reached the stage that food
substances could be analyzed, and the subject of food
adulteration began to be studied from the standpoint of the
rights and welfare of the consumer.
 Precautions
By taking a few precautions, we can escape from consuming
adulterated products.

1. Take only packed items of well-known companies.

2. Buy items from reliable retail shops and recognized
outlets.
3. Check the ISI mark or Agmark.
4. Buy products of only air tight popular brands.
5. Avoid craziness for artificially coloured sweets and buy only
from reputed shops.
6. Do not buys sweets or snacks kept in open.
7. Avoid buying things from street side vendors.
 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, diarrhea, 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 commode.
 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 andargemone 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.
 EXPERIMENT 2
AIM:
To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar.

APPARATUS REQUIRED:
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 HCl. Brisk
effervescence of CO2 shows the presenceofchalk 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.

APPARATUS REQUIRED:
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 dilsolution 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.
 Observation

EXPT. EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE OBSERVATION

NO.

1. Adulteration of paraffin wax and Heat small amount of Appearance of oil

hydrocarbon in vegetable ghee. vegetable ghee with acetic floating on the surface.
anhydride. Droplets of oil
floating on the surface of
unused acetic anhydride
indicate the presence of
wax or
hydrocarbon.
2. Adulteration of dyes in fat Heat 1mL of fat with a Appearance of pink
mixture of 1mL of conc. colour.
H2SO4 and 4mL ofacetic
acid.
3. Adulteration of argemone oil in To small amount of oil in a No red colour observed
edible oils test tube, add few

drops of conc. HNO3

&shake.
4. Adulteration Take small Pure sugar
of various amount of dissolves in
insoluble sugar in atest water but
substances in tube and insoluble
sugar shake it with impurities do
little water. not dissolve.
5. Adulteration of chalk powder, To small amount of sugar No brisk effervescence
washing soda in sugar in atest tube, add a few observed.
dropsof
dil. HCl
6. Adulteration of yellow lead salts to To sample of turmeric Appearance of
turmeric powder, add conc. HCl. magenta colour
powder
7. Adulteration To a sample No yellow
of red lead of chilli precipitate.
 salts in chilli powder. powder, add dil. HNO3.
Filter the solution and
add 2 drops of KI
solution to
the filtrate.
8. Adulteration of brick Add small amount of Brickpowder settles at the
powder in chilli givenredchilli powder bottom while pure chilli
powder in a beaker containing powder floats over water.
water
9. Adulteration of dried Add small amount of Dried papaya seeds being
papaya seeds in sample of pepper to lighter float over water
pepper beaker containing water while pure pepper settles at
and stir with a glass the bottom.
rod.
 Result
The required analyses for adulterants in food stuffs has been
made.

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 shops.
 Bibliography

1. Rachnasagar chemistry lab

manual
2. Meritnation.in
3. Wikipedia
4. Wikihow
5. Google images