72 FOODS AND FOOD ADULTERANTS. 



The oleomargarine used required 193.5 milligrams KOH per gram. 1 

 The iodine method of Hiibl 2 was also tried with a mixture of cocoanut oil 

 and oleomargarine, &c., and numbers obtained which come within the 

 limits for pure butter. 



Thus oleomargarine 55 per cent. + cocoanut oil 45 per cent, required 

 35.5 of iodine per 100 grams, and lard 40 per cent. + cocoaimt oil GO per 

 cent, required 32.2 of iodine. In samples of butter the iodine numbers 

 found by HUbl varied from 26.8 to 35.1. 



By Eeichert's method, however, 3 the presence of cocoanut oil mixed 

 with butter and oleo is at once detected. Thus a mixture of 50 per 

 cent, butter, 27.5 per cent, oleomargarine, and 33.5 cocoauut oil gave 

 by Hehner's method 89.50 per cent, insoluble acids j by Koettstorfer's 

 method, 227.5 mg. KOH ; by Hiibl's method, 33.4 per cent, iodine fac- 



N 

 tor; by Eeichert's method, 8.7cc. soda solution. 



N 



Pure butter requires by Eeichert's method about 13cc., alkali to 



neutralize the volatile acids distilled over, while cocoanut oil in similar 

 circumstances requires only 3.7cc. Little evidence is forthcoming in 

 respect of the use of cocoanut oil as an adulterant of butter. It has 

 been mentioned as an adulterant of lard 4 and Dietszch 5 mentions it as 

 a compound of " Schmalzbutter." In attempts to use it as an adulterant 

 of butter no great success was secured, since the oil not having been 

 properly purified made the butter unpalatable. The smell and taste of 

 the oil can be removed by a patent process of Jeserich and Meinert 6 

 which consists in treating the oil with superheated steam and saponify- 

 ing any free fatty acids by calcined magnesia. The author closes his 

 paper by recommending Eeichert's process as superior to all others in 

 examining for the purity of butters. 



USE OF COTTON-SEED OIL AS A BUTTER ADULTERANT. 



Cotton-seed oil is used largely as an adulterant for lard and butter. 

 It has saponification equivalent of 285 to 296 and specific gravity at 99 

 C. .872, pure butter fat at the same temperature being .868. 



Its further properties are thus described by Allen : 7 



The oil as expressed from the seeds contains in solution, often to the extent of 1 per 

 cent., a peculiar coloring matter, which is characteristic of this oil and its seed, and 

 which gives the oil a ruby-red color, sometimes so intense as to cause the oil to appear 

 nearly black. Crude cotton-seed oil gives a verj r bright red coloration with strong 

 sulphuric acid (page 59). When boiled with an alkaline solution, alcoholic potash 

 being preferable for laboratory experiments, crude cottou-seed oil is saponified, and 

 the resultant soap rapidly oxidizes on exposure to air, with production of a fine pur- 



1 Moore, Am. Chem. J., vol. 6, p. 416. ''Nahriingsmittel und Getriinke, p. 12. 



2 Ding, Poly. J., vol. 253, p. 281. fi \Vag. Jahresbericht, 1882, p. 932. 



3 Zeit. Anal. Chem. 1880, p. 68, 7 0p. cit., 2d ed., p. 112. 

 ^Analyst, 1882, p. 193. 



