[Report 1908] / Medical Officer of Health, Bournemouth County Borough.

  • Bournemouth (England). County Borough Council. nb2004301338.
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1908] / Medical Officer of Health, Bournemouth County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    76/90 (page 76)
    SPICES. Spices owe their special character as to aroma and tlavour to certain volatile or essential oils and pungent l)rinciples. Usually the amount of pungent principle is not altered by keeping, provided that the spice is not allowed to become damp or mouldy, on the other hand the essential oils are liable to be cerii sIowJij lost by evaporation if the spice is exposed to the air, hence they should be stored in tins, well-litting drawers or other suitable receptacles. It is, of course, the business of the grocer to know this, and he should take precautions accordingly. Of the various spices examined in 1908 no fewer than () were found to he deficient in essential oil, but in most cases the deficiency was not so serious as to warrant reports of adulteration, although the samples were far kelow the average value of genuine sam])les as shown in the following table. :— TABLE IV. Xi). ICssentiiil Average of S))irit Average of Artifk*. ofSiui)|)le Oil. ICssential Oil. K.vtraet. Sjiirit K.xtraet. (iroiuiil Caniwav 2(i7 2-4 :407 8.5 8-78 „ „ ■ 2-0.') :5-07 8-G 8 78 Cloves .. .. 2Gy I3(i 1.5-8 — — 274 IH'.-. 15-8 — — iMlspiee .. .. 27.7 1 -OS 2-(;7 2.(15 Miiec .. .. 272 1-II7 7-5() — — Nos. 267, 269, 273 and 274 were reported as being of poor quality, the deficiency being only such as inight possibly be due to long exposure, but Nos. 272 and 275 were reported as adulterated. Other tests indicated the presence of “wild mace” in sample 272, “wild mace” l)eing the name given to the product of an entirely different plant which is quite valueless for flavouring purposes. iV comparison of the figures given by iNo. 275 with the averages for ground allspice shows that the essential oil had been removed by spirit extraction, the “ spirit extract ” as well as the essential oil being below one-half the average figure. The vendor of this sample was summoned and ordered to i)ay the costs of the prosecution.