20 ME COMPOSITION OF RED PEPPERS. 



the following parts: Stems, seeds, shells, and central and wall pla- 

 centae, and each of these parts was found to have a distinct taste and 

 flavor. The stems are gray in color and have very little taste. The 

 seeds are of a lemon-yellowish color and have a peculiar, sweetish, 

 bland taste, with little, if any, pungency. The shells, or pericarps, 

 have a peculiar, sweetish, slightly acid taste, more pronounced than 

 the seeds, and with a little pungency. They, however, contain 

 practically all of the deep red color. The central placenta has a 

 sweetish, slightly acid, slippery taste with some pungency, and a 

 slight pinkish color. The wall placentae, however, are the source of 

 the pungency in paprika, containing practically all of the capsaicin; 

 they have a deep red color. 



In the ground samples, the results of analysis of which are given in 

 Table 4, the shells alone have a pleasant, sweetish, slightly acid taste, 

 with some pungency, a distinct and pronounced, though not strong, 

 odor peculiar to paprika and a light brick-red color. The seeds and 

 placentae have a sweetish, bland, slightly pungent taste, with little 

 odor, and are orange yellow in color. The stems are slightly pungent, 

 due to the particles of placentae attached, have a slight paprika odor, 

 due to the same condition, and a gray color. When, however, the 

 shells, seeds, and placentae are ground together in their normal 

 proportion, the sample has a bright, brick-red color, and a much 

 stronger paprika odor, but less distinctive taste, than when the shells 

 are ground alone. 



STANDARDS. 



The standard for paprika given in Circular 19, Office of the Secre- 

 tary, is as follows : 



" Paprika is the dried ripe fruit of Capsicum annuum L., or some 

 other large-fruited species of Capsicum, excluding seeds and stems." 

 It would appear from our results that this is not a correct definition 

 of the best commercial product, which includes the seeds normal to 

 the pod. 



The standard l of Austria-Hungary does not allow an excess of 

 8 per cent of total ash and 1 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric 

 acid. The German standard 2 holds that paprika should not contain 

 more than 6.5 per cent of ash, and not more than 1 per cent of ash 

 insoluble in hydrochloric acid. The Swiss standard 3 requires that 

 there shall not be more than 5 per cent of ash, and not more than 0.5 

 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 



1 Codex Alimentarius Austriacus. 



' Deutsches Nahrungsmittelbuch, 2. aufl. 



Schweizer Lebensmittelbuch. 



