244 
Pepper. 
Am.  Jour.  Pliarm. 
June,  1913. 
being  called  upon  to  make  some  analyses  of  white  pepper  to  deter- 
mine this  particular  point,  the  analyst  of  a  firm  making  large  pur- 
chases having  complained  of  the  fact  that  the  nitrogen  in  the  ether 
extract  was  suspiciously  low  for  this  substance,  being  only  about 
3.25  per  cent.  Several  analyses  having  verified  the  fact  that  low 
figures  were  being  given  by  different  lots  of  white  pepper,  some 
analyses  were  made  of  black  pepper  with  regard  to  this  constant 
and  low  results  were  also  obtained,  but  not  proportionately  so,  only 
one  being  below  the  legal  requirement. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  requirement  is  one  which  is  purely 
arbitrary  and  possibly  subject  to  seasonal  or  other  natural  varia- 
tion, or  to  the  time  of  collection  of  the  berry.  Analyses  made 
recently  of  a  number  of  samples  of  both  white  and  black  pepper 
show  ten  instances  in  which  the  nitrogen  percentage  ran  below  the 
U.  S.  standard  for  this  factor  in  white  pepper.  All  other  character- 
istics are  normal  with  the  exception  of  the  ash  and  insoluble  ash  in 
No.  1.  The  black  peppers,  with  one  exception,  showed  a  figure  for 
nitrogen  content  of  the  ether  extract  in  excess  of  the  minimum 
requirement. 
I  have  communicated  with  other  analysts  who  have  been  ex- 
amining spices  and  they  report  having  had  similar  experiences  in 
some  instances.  It  would  seem  as  though  this  requirement  should 
either  be  modified  or  that  some  tolerance  should  be  exercised  by 
analysts  in  the  matter  of  interpretation  of  results  in  rejection  of 
samples  on  non-essential  points.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  while  piperine 
does  contribute  some  pungency  to  both  white  and  black  pepper,  it  is 
the  least  valuable  of  the  active  constituents  present,  as  all  of  the 
aroma  and  flavor  and  much  of  the  pungency  as  well  are  contributed 
by  the  volatile  oil  and  the  resinous  substances  present. 
The  Analytical  Data  on  the  Foregoing  Samples  are  Herewith  Given: 
White  pep- 
per sam- 
ples 
Ash 
per  cent. 
Ash  insol. 
in  HC1 
Non-vol. 
eth.  ext. 
N  in  n.  v. 
e.  ext. 
Crude 
fibre 
Microscopic 
appearance 
I 
3-30 
O.65 
7.66 
3-71 
3-25 
inferior 
2 
115 
O.3O 
8.I4 
3-85 
2.67 
O.K. 
3 
0.90 
0.25 
7-93 
3-34 
1.91 
O.K. 
4 
1.28 
0.18 
7-63 
3.60 
3-53 
O.K. 
5 
1.07 
0.20 
7.80 
342 
1.65 
O.K. 
6 
1.05 
0.20 
7.88 
4.00 
3-63 
O.K. 
7 
1.08 
0.13 
8.02 
3.21 
1.80 
O.K. 
8 
1.20 
C.20 
7.41 
3-70 
346 
O.K. 
9 
1.20 
0.25 
8.65 
'  3-24 
2.21 
O.K. 
10 
1.24 
O.4I 
7.72 
3.62 
2-53 
O.K. 
