Chemistry

Investigatory
Project

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 Certificate page

This is to certify that Prashanth P Mirji of class XII A has

satisfactorily completed his chemistry investigatory
project as prescribed by the CBSE course during the
academic year 2023-2024.

Principal's Signature Teacher in charge

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 Objective
The Objective of this project is to study some of the common
food adulterants present in different food stuffs.

intrOductiOn
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Food is one of the basic necessities for sustenance of life. Pure, fresh
and healthy diet is most essential for the health of the people. It is no
wonder to say that community health is national wealth.

Adulteration of food-stuffs was so rampant, widespread and persistent

that nothing short of a somewhat drastic remedy in the form of a
comprehensive legislation became the need of the hour.

To check this kind of anti-social evil a concerted and determined

onslaught was launched by the Government by introduction of the
Prevention of Food Adulteration Bill in the Parliament to herald an era
of much needed hope and relief for the consumers at large.

About the middle of the 19th century, chemical and microscopic

knowledge had reached the stage that food substances could be
analyzed, and the subject of food adulteration began to be studied
from the standpoint of the rights and welfare of the consumer.

The 1906 act was superseded in 1938 by the more rigorous Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act administered since 1940 by the Food and Drug
Administration (now within the Dept. of Health and Human Services).

The FDA is charged with enforcing truthful and informative labeling of

essential commodities, maintaining staff laboratories, and formulating
definitions and standards promoting fair dealing in the interests of the
consumer.

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 experiment -1
AIM:To detect the presence of adulterants in the given samples of
fat, oil and butter.

APPARATUS REQUIRED:Test-tube, Test tube holder, a pair of

tongs, acetic anhydride, concentrated sulphuric acid, acetic acid,
concentrated HNO3, given food samples

PROCEDURE: Common adulterants present in ghee and oil are

paraffin wax, hydrocarbons, dyes and argemone oil. These are
detected as follows:

(i) Adulteration of paraffin wax and hydrocarbon in vegetable

ghee: Heat small amount of vegetable ghee with acetic
anhydride. Droplets of oil floating on the surface of unused
acetic anhydride indicate the presence of wax or
hydrocarbons.

(ii) 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 colour indicates presence of dye in fat.

(iii) Adulteration of argemone oil: To small amount of oil in a test-

tube, add few drops of conc. HNO3 and shake. Appearance of
red colour in the acid layer indicates presence of argemone oil.

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 experiment -2

AIM:
To detect the presence of adulterants in sugar.
APPARATUS REQUIRED:
Test-tubes, Dilute HCl, Sugar Sample

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.

experiment - 3
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AIM:
To detect the presence of adulterants in samples of chilli powder,
turmeric powder and pepper.

APPARATUS REQUIRED:
Test-tubes, conc. HCl, dil. HNO3, KI solution.

PROCEDURE:
Common adulterants present in chilli powder, turmeric powder
and pepper are red coloured lead salts, yellow lead salts and dried
papaya seeds respectively. They are detected as follows:

(i) Adulteration of red lead salts in chilli powder To a

sample of chilli 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.

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(ii) Adulteration of yellow lead salts to turmeric powder To a
sample of turmeric powder add conc. HCl. Appearance of
magenta colour shows the presence of yellow oxides of lead
in turmeric powder.

(iii) Adulteration of brick powder in red chilli powder. Add small

amount of given red chilli powder in beaker containing
water. Brick powder settles at the bottom while pure chilli
powder floats over water.

(iv) Adulteration of dried papaya seeds in pepper Add small

amount of sample of pepper to a 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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 ObServAtiOn And reSuLt

EXPT. NO EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE OBSERVATION

1. Heat small amount of
vegetable ghee with
acetic anhydride.
Adulteration of Droplets of oil Appearance of oil
paraffin wax and floating on the floating on the
hydrocarbon in surface of unused surface.
vegetable ghee. acetic anhydride
indicate the presence
of wax or
hydrocarbon.
2. Heat 1mL of fat with
Adulteration of a mixture of 1mL of Appearance of
dyes in fat conc. H2SO4 and 4mL pink colour.
of acetic acid.
3.
Adulteration of To small amount of No red colour
Argemone oil in oil in a test tube, add observed
edible oils few drops of conc.
HNO3 & shake.
Adulteration of Take small amount of Pure sugar
4. various insoluble sugar in a test tube dissolves in water
substances in and shake it with but insoluble
sugar little water. impurities do not
dissolve.
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5. Adulteration of To small amount of No brisk

 chalk powder, sugar in a test tube, effervescence
washing soda in add a few drops of observed.
sugar dil. HCl
6. Adulteration of To sample of
yellow lead salts turmeric powder, Appearance of
to turmeric add conc. HCl. magenta colour
powder
7. Adulteration of To a sample of chili
red lead salts in powder, add dil. No yellow
chili powder. HNO3. Filter the precipitate.
solution and add 2
drops of KI solution
to the filtrate.
8. Adulteration of Add small amount of Brick powder
brick powder in given red chili settles at the
chili powder powder in a beaker bottom while pure
containing water chili powder floats
over water.
9. Adulteration of Add small amount of Dried papaya
dried papaya sample of pepper to seeds being lighter
seeds in pepper beaker containing float over water
water and stir with a while pure pepper
glass rod. settles at the
bottom.

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 cOncLuSiOn
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.

precAutiOnS:
By taking a few precautions, we can escape from consuming
adulterated products.

1. Take only packed items of well-known companies.

2. Buy items from reliable retail shops and recognized outlets.

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 3. Check the ISI mark or Agmark.

4. Buy products of only air tight popular brands.

5. Avoid craziness for artificially coloured sweets and buy only

from reputed shops.

6. Do not buy sweets or snacks kept in open.

7. Avoid buying things from street side vendors.

bibLiOgrAphy
1. Website
 www.wikipedia.org
 www.google.com
 www.yahoo.com

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