CHEMISTRY

INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
By
Raghul
Class 12
GT VIDHYA MANDIR
INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT

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2 | C h e m i s t r y I n v e s ti g a t o r y p r o j e c t
 GT VIDHYA MANDIR
Vadamadurai, Thiruvallur – 601102
CLASS – XII

CBSE
CHEMISTRY PROJECT
2022 – 2023

NAME:…………………………………………………………..
REG NO.:………………………………………………………

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4 | C h e m i s t r y I n v e s ti g a t o r y p r o j e c t
 " There are times when silence speaks so much more loudly

than words of praise to only as good as belittle a person,

whose words do not express, but only put a veneer over true

feelings, which are of gratitude at this point of time. "

In the accomplishment of this project successfully, many people

have best owned upon me their blessings and the heart pledged
support, this time I am utilizing to thank all the people who have
been concerned with project. Primarily I would thank the
Almighty God for being able to complete this project with
success. Then I would like to thank my Principal Sir for the
opportunities and Our Chemistry Ma’am – Mrs.Sasirekha for the
valuable guidance has been the ones that helped me patch this
project and make it full proof success. His suggestions and his
instructions have served as the major contributor towards the
completion of the project. Then I would like to thank Parents
and Classmates who have helped me with their valuable
suggestions and guidance has been helpful in various phases of
the completion of the project. Last but not the least I would like
to thank my classmates who have helped me a lot.

5 | C h e m i s t r y I n v e s ti g a t o r y p r o j e c t
 S no. Title Page no.
1. Certificate 4
2. Acknowledgement 5
3. Objective 7
4. Introduction 8
5. Theory 10
6. Common Detection tests 14
7. Experiment 1 18
8. Experiment 2 19
9. Experiment 3 20
10. Observation 21
11. Result 22
12. Precautions 23
13. Conclusion 24
14. Bibliography 25

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 Study- To study some of the common food
adulterants present in different food stuffs and tests to
determine their presence
Test - Identification of the adulterants present in
common food stuffs.
Conclusion - Conclusion along with some
precautions

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Food adulteration occurs globally and in many facets and affects
almost all food commodities. Adulteration not only constitutes a
considerable economic problem but also may lead to serious
health issues for consumers. As the methods of adulterating
foods have become more sophisticated, very efficient and
reliable techniques for the detection of fraudulent manipulations
are required. Adulteration is a thriving business in India.
Foodstuff is one of the major targets as it is easy to adulterate
and getaway. Turmeric powders are mixed with chemical colors
to make them look brighter. Salt with chalk powder,
Peppercorns with dried papaya seeds, Coriander powder with
sawdust. Tea leaves with same colored leaves. Coffee seeds with
tamarind seeds. Different vegetables are colored with dyes to
look bright and some of them are carcinogenic. Brick powder is
mixed with chili powder.

“The Annual Public Laboratory Testing Report for 2014-15

by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI)  indicates that of the 49,290 samples of food items it
tested, 8,469, nearly one-fifth, were found adulterated or
misbranded.”

It is not just food, but anything that sells. Petrol. Diesel.

Drinking water. The list is endless.

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The Annual Public Laboratory Testing Report for 2014-15 by
the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
(FSSAI) indicates that of the 49,290 samples of food items it
tested, 8,469, nearly one-fifth, were found adulterated or
misbranded.

“CSE found that honey sold by numerous major brands

contained modified sugar syrup that could not be detected
during quality checks prevalent in the country. The syrup
was specially imported from Chinese manufacturers who
designed it in such a way that it could bypass laboratory
tests in India as it would not detect the sugar content.”

Growing business of Food adulteration in newspapers are give

below:-

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The increasing number of food producers and the outstanding
amount of import foodstuffs enables the producers to mislead
and
cheat consumers. To differentiate those who take advantage of
legal rules from the ones who commit food adulteration is very
difficult. The consciousness of consumers would be crucial.
Ignorance and unfair market behavior may endanger consumer
health and misleading can lead to poisoning. So we need simple
screening tests for their detection. In the past few decades,
adulteration of food has become one of the serious problems.
Consumption of adulterated food causes serious diseases like
cancer, diarrhea, asthma, ulcers, etc. Majority of fats, oils and
butter are paraffin wax, castor oil and hydrocarbons. Red chili
powder is mixed with brick powder and pepper is mixed with
dried papaya seeds. These adulterants can be easily identified by
simple chemical tests. Several agencies have been set up by the
Government of India to remove adulterants from food stuffs.

AGMARK -
acronym for agricultural marketing, this organization
certifies food products for their quality. Its objective is to

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promote the Grading and Standardization of agricultural and
allied commodities. The symbol of AGMARK:

PRECAUTIONS to safeguard ourselves from Food

Adulteration:
† Take only packed items of well-known companies.

† Buy items from reliable retail shops and recognized outlets.

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 † Check the ISI mark or AGMARK.

† Buy products of only air tight popular brands.

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 † Avoid craziness for artificially colored sweets and buy only
from reputed shops.

† Do not buy sweets or snacks kept in open.

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Aim: To detect the presence of adulterants in fat, oil and butter.
Apparatus Required: Test-tube, conc. H2SO4, acetic acid,
conc. HNO3.
Procedure:
Common adulterants present in ghee and oil are dyes and
argemone oil. These are detected as follows:
(i) Adulteration of dyes in fat: Heat 1mL of fat with a mixture
of 1mL of conc. Sulphuric Acid and 4mL of Acetic Acid.
Appearance of pink or red color indicates presence of dye in fat.

(ii) Adulteration of argemone oil in edible oils: To small

amount of oil in a test-tube, add few drops of conc. HNO3 and
shake it well. Appearance of red color in the acid layer indicates
presence of argemone oil.

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Aim: To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar.
Apparatus Required: Test-tubes, dil. HCl.
Procedure:
Sugar is usually contaminated with washing soda and other
insoluble substances which are detected as follows:
(i) Adulteration of various insoluble substances in sugar:
Take small amount of sugar in a test-tube and shake it with little
water. Pure sugar dissolves in water but insoluble impurities do
not dissolve.
(ii) Adulteration of chalk powder, washing soda in sugar: To
small amount of sugar in a test-tube, add few drops of HCl.
Brisk effervescence of CO2 shows the presence of chalk powder
or washing soda in the given sample of sugar.

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Aim: To detect the presence of adulterants in samples of chili
powder, turmeric powder and pepper.
Apparatus Required: Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3, KI
solution. Procedure: Common adulterants present in chili powder,
turmeric powder and pepper are red colored lead salts, yellow lead
salts and dried papaya seeds respectively. They are detected as
follows:
(i) Adulteration of red lead salts in chili powder: To a sample of
chili powder, add dil. HNO3. Filter the dil. solution and add 2 drops
of Potassium Iodide solution to the filtrate. Yellow ppt. indicates the
presence of lead salts in chilli powder.
(ii) Adulteration of yellow lead salts to turmeric powder: To a
sample of turmeric powder add conc. HCl. Appearance of magenta
color shows the presence of yellow oxides of lead in turmeric
powder.
(iii) Adulteration of brick powder in red chili powder: Add small
amount of given red chili powder in beaker containing water. Brick
powder settles at the bottom while pure chili powder floats over
water.
(iv) Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in pepper: Add small
amount of sample of pepper to beaker containing water and stir with
a glass rod. Dried papaya seeds being lighter float over water while
pure pepper settles at the bottom.

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Exp No. Experiment Procedure Observations
1. Adulteration of dyes Heat 1mL of Appearance of pink
in fat fat with a colour.
mixture of
1mL of conc.
H2SO4 and
4mL of acetic
acid.
2. Adulteration of To small No red colour
argemone oil in amount of oil observed
edible oils in a test tube,
add few drops
of conc. HNO3
& shake.
3. Adulteration of Adulteration of Pure sugar
various insoluble various dissolves in water
substances in sugar insoluble but insoluble
substances in impurities do not
sugar dissolve.
4. Adulteration of chalk To small No brisk
powder, washing amount of effervescence
soda in sugar sugar in a test observed.
tube, add a few
drops of dil.
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 HCl
5. Adulteration of To sample of Appearance of
yellow lead salts to turmeric magenta colour
turmeric powder powder, add
conc. HCl.
6. Adulteration of red To a sample of No yellow
lead salts in chili chili powder, precipitate.
powder. add dil. HNO3.
Filter the
solution and
add 2 drops of
KI solution to
the filtrate
7. Adulteration of brick Add small Brick powder
powder in chili amount of settles at the bottom
powder given red chili while pure chili
powder in a powder floats over
beaker water.
containing
water
8. Adulteration of dried Add small Dried papaya seeds
papaya seeds in amount of being lighter float
pepper sample of over water while
pepper to pure pepper settles
beaker at the bottom.
containing
water and stir
with a glass
rod.

RESULT:
22 | C h e m i s t r y-The
I n v erequired
s ti g a t o r yanalyses
p r o j e c t for adulterants in food stuffs

have been made.

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Selection of wholesome and non-adulterated food is essential for
daily life to make sure that such foods do not cause any health
hazard. It is not possible to ensure wholesome food only on
visual
examination when the toxic contaminants are present in ppm
level.
However, visual examination of the food before purchase makes
sure to ensure absence of insects, visual fungus, foreign matters,
etc. Therefore, due care taken by the consumer at the time of
purchase of food after thoroughly examining can be of great
help.
Secondly, label declaration on packed food is very important
for knowing the ingredients and nutritional value. It also helps in
checking the freshness of the food and the period of best before
use. The consumer should avoid taking food from an unhygienic
place and food being prepared under unhygienic conditions.
Such types of food may cause various diseases.
Consumption of cut fruits being sold in unhygienic conditions
should be avoided. It is always better to buy certified food from

reputed shops.

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 i. www.Theleaflet.com
ii. www.judicialeconomist.com
iii. www.fssai.gov.in
iv. www.eatrightindia.gov.in
v. www.researchgate.net
vi. www.sciencedirect.com
vii. www.tandfonline.com
viii. www.britanica.com
ix. NCERT Class 12 Chemistry Book
x. Comprehensive Lab manual for class 12 Chemistry –
Laxmi Publications
xi. The Hindustan News paper-article on food safety
xii. Indian Express – article of food adulteration and its
increasing problems

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