24 CIRCULAR 952. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



tests (p. 5), the off -flavor in the peanut butter made from peanuts 

 grown in BHC-treated soil and shown by chemical analysis to contain 

 approximately 7 p. p. m. of BHC was regularly described as charac- 

 teristic of BHC. If the dilution test did provide a true measure of 

 taste threshold to BHC flavor in peanut butter of approximately 0.9 

 p. p. m. for Panel A. then the lower quantities determinable chemically 

 (table 5) would lead to the conclusion that the chemical determination 

 of BHC is much more sensitive, at least for this product, and could 

 therefore replace palatability tests. Here we see. however, that three 

 of the samples from peanuts that followed BHC-treated cotton and 

 were scored sig nif icantly lower than the control showed chemically 

 determined BHC levels of 0.20. 0.45. and 0.50 p. p. m.. considerably 

 lower than the estimated 0.9 p. p. m. associated with the indicated 

 panel threshold level. These panel scores may, therefore, be evidence 

 that the off-flavor is not entirely due to BHC per se. 



Some limited experiments carried out in these laboratories with 

 BHC added to peanut butter show that flavor of the insecticide can 

 be influenced by the carrier in which it is incorporated. A solution 

 containing 300 p. p. m. of BHC in refined peanut oil was incorporated 

 in a sample of peanut butter to provide for a BHC concentration of 

 10 p. p. m. An equal quantity of BHC-free peanut oil was incorpo- 

 rated in a second sample of the same peanut butter. When portions 

 of these samples were submitted to the judging panel, no difference 

 in flavor was observed but both were scored lower than a control 

 sample of the same peanut butter with no added oil. To avoid the 

 use of additional oil, which apparently lowered flavor scores, a portion 

 of oil was removed by suction from another sample of the peanut 

 butter. Enough technical BHC was dissolved in this oil to provide 

 for approximately 15 p. p. m. of technical BHC hi the peanut butter 

 when the oil solution and peanut butter were remixed. TVhen checked 

 by the modified Schechter-Hornstein method, the concentration of 

 BHC was determined as 13 p. p. m. Again, when served to the 

 panel, there was no definite differentiation between this sample and 

 appropriate controls containing no BHC. Similar results were ob- 

 tained on panel evaluation of a peanut butter sample containing ap- 

 proximately 15 p. p. m. of 1.2.4-trichlorobeiizene. a major degrada- 

 tion product that might be expected from BHC. As shown earlier. 

 even inexperienced judges readily detected off -flavors in peanut butter 

 made from peanuts grown in BHC-treated soils and containing as 

 little as 1.8 p. p. m. of BHC. These results indicate, therefore, that 

 BHC absorbed from the soil by peanuts may not be present as a 

 solution in the oil component of the peanuts. 



SUMMARY 



Studies were made by use of sensory methods and chemical analyses 

 to determine whether the production of peanuts in soils previously 

 exposed to benzene hexachloride (BHC) applied as dust to cotton 

 crops resulted in accumulation of the insecticide in the peanuts or 

 adversely affected their flavor. Soil samples were also taken to in- 

 vestigate, by chemical analysis, possible relationships between residues 

 of BHC in peanuts and in the soils in which they were grown. 



The peanut and soil samples tested made up two major groups with 

 respect to production histories. One group consisted of peanuts 



