Chemical and Physical Papers. 43 



IMPROVEMENT IN THE COMMERCIAL SUPPLY OF 

 SPICES AND CAUSE OF SAME. 



By L. E. Sayre. 



IT is instructive to note that the commercial supply of spices 

 has improved to a marked degree since the enactment of 

 the food and drugs law. At one time the common spices, such 

 as cloves, pepper, cinnamon, allspice and ginger, were so freely 

 adulterated that the public became accustomed to the use of 

 large quantities of spices for flavoring. Recently the chef not 

 aware of recent improvements in quality has been somewhat 

 surprised that such small quantities of these aromatics are 

 required to produce the desired effect. 



Recently, commercial samples of spices were collected from 

 different grocery stores and examined in order to study the 

 question of market supply — whether an improvement existed. 

 First, two recognized spices were collected — cloves and ail- 

 spice. Examination was made, under supervision, by Mr. 

 John F. King, a senior student. The data obtained from these 

 were: 



1. Moisture. 



2. Ash. 



3. Volatile ether extract. 



4. Nonvolatile ether extract. 



5. Crude fiber. 



This was considered sufficient for the purpose of this in- 

 vestigation. 



It may be remarked that adulteration always implies added 

 foreign substances. Cloves, for example, sometimes contain 

 a large percentage of stocks upon which the clove buds are 

 borne. These are imported in considerable quantities. They 

 yield about 5 or 6 per cent of volatile oil, while the genuine 

 cloves should contain from 15 to 20 per cent. Another product 

 of the clove plant is the nearly ripe fruits, which are desig- 

 nated as mother cloves. They are dark brown, ovoid, one- 

 seeded berries, crowned by the remains of the calyx teeth. 

 They contain but little volatile oil. Both clove stocks and 

 mother cloves have been used to adulterate ground cloves. 



Clove stocks may be detected by the presence of numerous 

 characteristics, nearly isodiametric, sclerenchymatous cells — 



