FOOD INSPEtTlON. 26 1 



or shells obtained in making white pepper out of black are very 

 largely used as an adulterant for black pepper and to some 

 extent for spices. Many of the samples of black pepper here 

 reported seem to carry too large an amount of pepper shells or 

 hulls. Of course it is difficult under the microscope to make a 

 quantitative examination of such materials, but it is doubtful 

 if in the case of all the samples indicated as containing an 

 excess of pepper hulls, that they were added fraudulently. As 

 is well known the quality of pepper deteriorates rapidly on 

 exposure to the air and the loss of strength of some of the pep- 

 pers here reported may have been due to age. For the most 

 part, the white peppers seemed to be genuine although 3 of 

 the samples carried more pepper hulls than should be present. 

 From its process of manufacture, white pepper should be prac- 

 tically free from hulls. 



The analysis of the dififerent brands of grade pepper exam- 

 ined are given on pages 272-275. 



cayenne: or ri;d pi;ppe;r. 



Cayenne pepper is the dried fruit of several species of 

 Capsicum, a genus of the nightshade family, native of the 

 American tropics but now cultivated in nearly all warm coun- 

 tries. The ordinary garden species of red pepper is Capsicum 

 annuum of which there are over 30 varieties in cultivation in 

 this country. The Cayenne and Chili varieties are most highly 

 priced because of their pungency. While differing greatly in 

 flavor, partly due to age and partly to the species of Capsicum 

 from which they were made, all of the samples of ground red or 

 cayenne pepper were genuine. 



The analysis of the different brands of red peppers examined 

 are given on pages 274-275. 



