io  Examination  of  Black  Pepper.  {A?anuaryPimm 
ARTIFICIAL  PEPPER. 
It  is  probably  only  in  exceptional  cases  that  attempts  are  made 
to  sophisticate  or  adulterate  whole  pepper,  and  with  the  more  gen. 
eral  enforcement  of  the  Pure  Food  and  Drugs  Law,  it  is  likely  that 
pepper  adulterated  in  this  manner  will  not  continue  to  be  imported. 
Heckmann11  reported  having  examined  a  lot  of  white  pepper,  over 
40  per  cent,  of  which  was  composed  of  an  imitation  pepper  consist- 
ing of  barium  sulphate.  A  number  of  grains  of  similar  composition 
were  also  found  in  black  pepper  by  Fischer  and  Griihnhagen.12 
Bertschinger13  reports  having  examined  an  imitation  black  pepper, 
the  grains  of  which  were  composed  of  two  portions,  namely,  a  cen- 
tral mass  consisting  of  wheat  starch  and  an  outer  layer  made  from 
the  residue  obtained  in  the  manufacture  of  olive  oil.  A  recent 
sophistication  that  has  come  to  our  notice  was  in  the  case  of  some 
black  pepper  offered  for  sale  that  contained  1 5  to  20  per  cent,  of  an 
imitation  pepper  composed  of  tapioca  which  was  colored  with  a 
bluish-black  dye. 
ADULTERATED  PEPPER. 
One  factor  which  affects  the  quality  of  pepper  to  a  considerable 
extent  is  the  neglect  properly  to  garble  and  clean  the  fruits.  The 
ash  is  not  only  increased  by  the  adhering  dirt,  but  sometimes  the 
whole  fruits  have  been  coated  with  barium  sulphate  or  calcium 
carbonate. 
As  is  well  known  to  analysts  a  large  number  of  substances  have 
been  used  to  adulterate  ground  black  pepper,  but  the  number  of 
these  are  probably  on  the  decrease.  The  very  cheap  grades  of 
pepper  are  usually  adulterated,  and  a  recent  sample  of  a  pepper 
examined  by  the  authors,  which  retailed  at  1  cent  per  box  (about 
I  ounce),  was  found  to  consist  of  olive  endocarp,  corn  and  wheat 
starch,  some  pepper  hulls  and  capsicum  [Fig.  £).  A  chemical  analysis 
of  the  sample  gave  the  following  figures:  Crude  fibre,  44-26;  total 
ash,  7-09;  insoluble  ash,  3-24.  A  common  admixture  or  adulterant 
of  black  pepper  is  that  of  pepper  hulls,  which,  as  already  stated, 
are  obtained  as  a  by-product  in  the  manufacture  of  white  pepper. 
In  addition,  ground  black  pepper  may  also  be  adulterated  with  olive 
endocarp  (olive  stone),  almond  shells  or  other  similar  products. 
Starchy  substances  are  sometimes  added,  but  these  are  readily 
