570 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXIX, No. n 
Table II.— Per cent of ash in different varieties of black pepper 
Batavia... 
Acheen_ 
Trang_ 
Singapore - 
Tellieherry 
Penang_ 
Allepo_ 
4.93 
8.99 
8.85 i 
10.90 !_ 
5.14 ! 
4.21 ! 
5.17 ; 
4.66 
4. 56 
6.44 !_ ! _ 
3.48 
3.36 | 
5.93 i 
3.20 
4.42 
5.41 ! 
5. 39- 
5.28 i 
6.41 ! 
4.17 : 
4. 38 
5.35 
4.43 . 
_ 
4.62 i 
6.44 j 
4.02 i 
5. 67 
4.59 
4.74 L 
3.27 
4.59 f 
3.85 
4. 43 
) 
Table III.— Total ash determinations of various spices 
Air-dried spice 
Number 
samples 
Number 
of 
analysts 
Repre¬ 
sentative 
total ash 
Total ash 
per¬ 
missible 
under 
pure 
food 
laws {110} 
Allspice_ _ ... . __ ... ___ 
296 
15 
Per cent 
4.51 
Per cent 
6 
Anise_ _ .....__ _ _ 
32 
6 
6. 85 
9 
Bay leaves. ... _..... _ ... _. ..... _ 
29 
5 
4.63 
Caraway_ .. __ .. ... .. _ 
51 
7 
6. 73 
8 
Cardamom fruit_ ... _ .. . ... _ _ ... 
109 
12 
6. 71 
8 
Cassia____ _... _ 
143 
4 
4.28 
5 
Celery seed_ _ _ 
101 
4 
8. 35 
10 
Cinnamon_ ..... .... . . .. _ .. 
542 
19 
4.05 
6 
Cloves_ . ___ __ .... . _ 
451 
13 
6.15 
7 
Coriander_ _..._ . .. _ _ 
270 
4 
5.38 
7 
Cumin_ _ . _ ..... ..... 
14 
4 
7.63 
8. 5- 
Fennel_ _ _ . ... .. _ 
48 
7 
8.12 
9 
Ginger.__ _ _ .. ._ ... _ 
841 
20 
4.89 
7 
Mace_ ... ___ 
219 
10 
2.26 
3 
Marjoram_ _ _ 
156 
5 
10. 62 
16 
Mustard_ ..._ .. . 
151 
21 
4.83 
5 
Mustard flour_ ..... __ _ ..... 
26 
4 
5.49 
6 
Nutmeg_ __ - 
342 
8 
2.45 
5 
Onion_ _ _ 
14 
5 
4.28 
Paprika_ _____ 
449 
12 
6.78 
8 
Pepper, black. . _ _ __ 
581 
23 
5.03 
6.17 
7 
Do... cayenne_ ... . . ... _ .. _. _ 
237 
15 
7 
Do... other red varieties_ ... .. ... ... ._ ..._ 
159 
4 
6.47 
8 
Do... white_ _ _ __ _ 
660 
13 
1.26 
3. 5 
Safflower.__ _ _ . ... ___ 
18 
4 
6.67 
Saffron_ .. _ .. . . . 
156 
14 
5.38 
Sage_ 
311 
2 
7.39 
10 
Savory_ _ ... _ _ _ . _ 
29 
4 
9.94 
Star anise__ _ _ ._ ... .. . 
63 
3 
2.63 
Thyme_ ... _ _ __ 
104 
4 
9. 83 
14 
Turmeric_ . _. .. ._ 
36 
9 
6. 37 
Similar results have been reported 
for other spices. It seems useless, 
therefore, to consider the geographical 
source of a spice in interpreting a total 
ash determination except where a con¬ 
sistent difference is well authenticated. 
Sage seems to be one of the few such 
spices, for the American-raised variety 
appears to show consistently a higher 
percentage of ash than the Austrian. 
While numerous figures are avail¬ 
able for the percentages of ash in the 
commoner spices, few reliable results 
are published for the spices principally 
used by manufacturers, such as dill, 
turmeric, fennel, etc. 
In order to draw conclusions from 
a total ash determination, it is de¬ 
sirable to know what percentage 
should be present when all factors 
tending to vary it have been eliminated. 
There are no such figures available at 
the present time. Each text book and 
article giving results of ash determi¬ 
nations reports a different figure for 
the same spice. This is not at all 
surprising when we consider that most 
of these figures are averages obtained 
with a few samples purchased at the 
same time and in the same market. 
When we remember further that 
different degrees of heating will result 
in different weights of ash from the 
same sample we understand why some 
chemists report twice as much ash as 
others for the same spice. 
The percentages for total ash given 
in Table III are the result of an effort 
to find the amount of ash in the spices 
listed when all the conditions affecting 
