12 THE COMPOSITION OF RED PEPPEES. 



The African or Mombasa chillies have the appearance of being dirty 

 or sandy, and the analyses plainly show this condition. They are 

 said to grow wild in the interior of tropical East Africa and are 

 gathered by semicivilized people. They are dried on the ground and 

 roofs of their huts or houses, thus subjected to the various conditions 

 of the weather. They contain dirt, sand, stems, etc., and neces- 

 sarily need cleaning before being ground for use. Attention is called 

 to one sample, I. S. 3822-C, showing a most remarkable amount of 

 sand and dirt present, which apparently could readily be sifted out, 

 as the analysis of the sifted product shows a normal condition. The 

 results on the sifted portions are remarkably uniform, showing only 

 slight variations between the maximum and the minimum. 



The Japanese or Kobe chillies differ in appearance, being very 

 clean looking and of a much brighter color. The results plainly show 

 this difference, as the amounts of sand and ash are materially lower. 

 Many samples contained less than one-half per cent of sand, while 

 in the Mombasa chillies practically none of the 50 samples ran as 

 low as that. 



I. S. 3822-C is so abnormal in its ash and ash insoluble in acid that 

 none of the results are included in the average, maximum, and mini- 

 mum results. Note how the sifting reduces the mineral matter and 

 increases the nonvolatile ether extract and crude fiber, making them 

 normal. 



STANDARDS. 



The standards given in Circular 19 of the Office of the Secretary for 

 cayenne state that it shall contain not less than 15 per cent of non- 

 volatile ether extract, not more than 6.5 per cent of total ash, not 

 more than 0.5 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid, not 

 more than 1.5 per cent of starch, and not more than 28 per cent of 

 crude fiber. 



As it is clear from the appearance and analysis of the African 

 chillies that they must be cleaned or sifted before they are suitable 

 for use, the results on only the sifted samples need be considered. 



A study of the results on the sifted samples shows that the standard 

 of 6.5 per cent total ash is sufficiently high, but nearly all of the Mom- 

 basa products exceeded the standard of 0.5 per cent sand, while a few 

 (3 out of 16 samples) of the Kobe exceeded this limit. 



The African chillies in a number of samples slightly exceeded the 

 standard of 28 per cent for crude fiber. The crude fiber in the Kobe 

 or Japanese chillies is considerably lower, averaging about 3 per cent 

 less than in the African product. 



