96 Kansas Academy of Science. 



ANALYSIS OF SPICES. 



By L. E. Sayre, University of Kansas, Lawrence. 



ONE of the difficult classes of vegetable substances to analyze 

 satisfactorily is the class known as the spices. The quality 

 of food accessories and their value for medicinal use resides mainly 

 in two constituents — an aromatic volatile oil, and a resin, often- 

 times pungent in character. In the case of ginger we have a volatile 

 oil, 1 to 3 per cent, which imparts the odor and flavor of the drug,' 

 and a non- volatile resino- extractive to which the pungency is due. 

 To these two principles the ginger owes its special activity. The 

 constituents of ginger that may be neglected practically in chem- 

 ical analysis are starch, fat and other inert principles, but starch is 

 an important constituent in microscopical analysis. 



The volatile constituent above referred to is readily extracted 

 and separated from inert material by alcohol, ether, benzol, or by 

 carbon disulfid. From good ginger ether extracts from 4 to 8 per 

 cent, of an oleoresin, which contains the volatile oil and pungent 

 principles. The ash from good ginger amounts to from 4 to 5 per 

 cent. The presence of a very minute quantity of an alkaloid has 

 been noted, but in estimations of quality this possible constituent 

 is ignored. 



According to the provisional methods for the analysis of spices 

 in general, the Association of Agricultural Chemists recommends 

 that the followin:^ data be obtained: Percentage of moisture, per.- 

 centage of ash, of water-soluble ash, of ash insoluble in acid, of 

 lime, of nitrogen, determination of ether extract ( volatile and 

 non- volatile), of alcoholic extract, of reducing matters, of starch, 

 of crude fiber, and of tannin. For extracting ginger the percentage 

 yield of cold-water extract is obtained, and for mustard the per- 

 centage of total sulfur, beside the microscopical examination. It 

 will be seen that this process is quite an elaborate one if all these 

 data are obtained. In certain individual spices only a few of these 

 are essential, as in the case of ginger the United States standard re- 

 quires that it shall contain not less than 42 per cent, of starch, not 

 more than 8 per cent, of crude fiber, not more than 6 per cent, of 

 total ash, not more than 1 per cent, of lime, and not more than 3 

 per cent, of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. In the limed or 

 bleached ginger the standard is : It should contain not more than 

 10 per cent, of ash, not more than 4 per cent, of carbonate of lime, 



