Addition Of Potash Research Articles

Determination of Heavy Metals in Edible Palm Oil Adultrated with Plant Dye: Experimental Investigation

From generation to generation, edible palm oil has been a staple of the human diet and has improved both nutrition and health. The goal of the current research was to determine whether it was possible to tamper with palm oil by adding natural potash (lake salt) and red dye made from the leaf sheath of sorghum bicolor. In order to create tainted palm oil with known concentrations and adulterant ratios, concentrations of potash and red dye ranging from 0.01-0.1% and 0.1-1.0%, respectively, were produced in water and added to fresh palm oil at oil/adulterant ratios ranging from 10:1-10:10. Adulterated samples underwent visual inspection for appearance, as well as sensory evaluation for quality indicators. Even at concentrations below 0.01%, the addition of potash caused the typical orange red hue of palm oil to become yellowish red, and it also produced a product with improved consistency. Zn 8.060.06, Cd 1.010.05, Ni 1.000.00, Co 125.910.09, Pb 9.300.07 Cobalt, Lead, and other heavy metals were found to be over the detectable level of the WHO standard, whereas Cd and Ni were within the permissibility limit. The findings of this study suggest that if sufficient oversight is not provided by regulatory bodies, palm oil might pose a risk to the public's health. As a result, from the point of production to the point of consumption, our local processed palm oil has to be better screened.

Chemical composition of early modern and modern window glass from archaeological excavations in Prague‐Hradčany, Czech Republic

AbstractA total of 101 fragments of the window rondels and fillings from four waste pits located in Prague‐Hradčany and dating to between 1500 and 1775 were analysed. In the sample set examined, ash‐based glass was found to be the most abundant (93 samples). The analysis also identified five fragments of non‐ash glass, that is, glass probably made with the addition of potash, two samples of sodium ash glass (containing halophytic plant ash used as an alkaline raw material), and one fragment of high‐lime low‐alkali (HLLA) ash‐based glass. The evolution of window glass composition in the Czech Republic is shown to differ in comparison with other European regions where the HLLA‐type predominates.

Reworking saltpetre manufacture in Lao PRD: Implications for isotopic fractionation during the historic processes

Saltpetre (KNO3; potassium nitrate) is one of the major ingredients of gunpowder which often served as a driving force during the political changes in historical times. Before development of chemical synthesis which involves the fixation of atmospheric dinitrogen followed by oxidation of NH3 with atmospheric oxygen, natural occurrence of nitrate minerals in sediments and soils was the sole source of the saltpetre. Reworking historic saltpetre manufacture was conducted in five locations from Lao PDR, a landlocked country in the Indochina Peninsula. The overall manufacturing processes involved the extraction with water of economic nitrous-earth (so-called bat guano deposits) collected from limestone caves, followed by addition of potash (potassium carbonate in form of wood-, grass- and bottom-ashes) to convert native nitrates (mostly Ca-salts) into saltpetre, evaporative removal of excess water from the elutes by pro-longed boiling (evaporative concentration), removal of floating scum and finally differential crystallization from the concentrates. The process was tested by use of stable isotopic analyses of nitrogen and oxygen isotope of the relevant chemical constituents (ambient water and nitrate). The analytical results for δ15N-δ18O values of nitrates collected at each step of the manufacturing processes verify limited isotopic modification, even in the prevailing conditions under strong alkaline media (pH: up to 11) and repeated evaporative removal of the ambient water which accompanies selective removal of 16O from the fluids. Slight negative/positive changes up to 2‰ in nitrate isotopic signatures of saltpeter concentrates were observed during the repeated removal of scum due to co-precipitation of nitrates with associated insoluble sulfates. Significance of the stable isotopic fingerprinting for the source identification as applied for saltpetre in the historic gunpowder was emphasized.

Protein Quality Evaluation of Raw and Processed Seeds of Cadaba farinosa Forssk and Growth Performance of Albino Rats Fed with the Products

Cadaba farinosa Forssk is a wild shrub whose seeds are eaten as a famine food in North Eastern Nigeria when there is poor harvest of conventional crops. This research was carried out in order to evaluate the protein quality of the seeds and to carry out the growth performance of experimental animals fed on seeds processed by different methods. The processed methods include cooking, cooking with the addition of potash, fermentation and sprouting. PTH-Amino acid analyzer was used to determine the amino acid profile and milk reference protein was used for scoring the essential amino acids. The products were fed to weaning albino rats for 28 days growth performance studies. The determination of nitrogen content of the feed, faeces, urine and the carcass of the animals were carried out by Kjeldahl method. Protein quality evaluation of the processed products was carried out by calculating the Biological Value (BV), Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER), Net Protein Utilization (NPU) and The Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acids Score (PDCAAS). Results of Amino acid analysis showed that the sample cooked with addition of potash contain higher levels of amino acids. Glutamic acid was found to the most abundant amino acid with a value of 11.96 g/ 100 g and 13.96 g/ 100 g in the sprouted and raw seeds respectively. Chemical score of amino acids revealed higher score for protein of seeds cooked with addition of potash except tryptophan which was 219.29% for seeds cooked without potash. The highest PDCAAS (49.84%) was found in the diet cooked with potash, however, it showed lower biological value (95%) and protein efficiency ratio (0.32). The group fed with sprouted diet showed significant increase (P=.05) in body weight (52.13%). Though cooking with addition of potash showed higher distribution of amino acids, but sprouting and fermentation were more promising in terms of promoting the growth of the experimental animals.

Effect of Potash addition on groundnut oil yield and quality of <i>kulikuli </i>(fried groundnut cake)

Fried groundnut cake, popularly called kulikuli, is obtained by frying the cake obtained from groundnut oil extraction. Addition of potash during defatting of groundnut is believed to increase oil yield and improve kulikuli quality, but there is little or no scientific information explaining this. This study investigated the yield, physical and chemical properties of oil extracted from groundnut with the addition of potash at 0.16, 0.32, 0.48 and 0.64%. The proximate and sensory attributes of the kulikuli produced were also determined. Groundnut yield increased from 14% to 27% with increasing addition of potash, presumably due to the emulsifying properties of potash. Potash addition significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the refractive indices, percentage impurity and colour of the oil samples. Oil extracted without potash had the lowest iodine value (85.12 mg/100 g), saponification value (202.2 mg KOH/g), acid value (6.46 mgKOH/g) and peroxide value (5.66 meq/Kg). The kulikuli had moisture in the range of 1.45 - 3.00%; carbohydrate, 20.6 - 40.4%; protein, 30.5 - 40.8%; ash, 4.45 - 5.05%; and fat, 23.5 - 30.6%. Kulikuli sample without potash was the most preferred based on taste and aroma while sample with 0.64% potash was the most preferred based on crunchiness, colour, breakability and overall acceptability. The study confirmed the hypothesis that potash addition during extraction of oil and production of kulikuli increases oil yield and some of the quality attributes of the kulikuli.
 Keywords: Groundnut, potash, oil yield, kulikuli, quality attributes

Contact Metamorphic Granophyres of Partial Melting Origin Adjacent to Dolerite Dykes in Karnataka

Abstract Granophyric rocks produced at the contact of post-Dharwar dolerite dykes in the host gneisses and granites of Peninsular Gneissic Complex stand out conspicuously at the weathered dyke margins in the vicinity of Hole Narsipur, Karnataka. The degree of development of granophyric texture is variable, and with its progressive increase, there is a shift in the host rock composition from granodiorite to alkali granite. Since there is no possibility of addition of potash from the dolerite to the granodiorite (the reverse is commonly the case) to cause this potash enrichment in host rocks, the origin of granophyres in the contact zones is attributed to partial melting rather than metasomatism or assimilation. This view is consistent with experimental evidence that partial melting of sodie gneisses (tonalites, trondjhemites and even granodiorites) results in the production of more potassic rocks like adamellites and alkali granites. The production of granophyres in the present case is, therefore, taken as a textural evidence for the partial melting of quartzofeldspathic gneisses. Similar phenomena are observed at the contact of Skaergaard intrusion of Greenland and Newer Dolerite of Singhbhum in eastern India.

A preliminary study of the relationship between manuring and susceptibility to disease in potatoes

It has long been recognised that in plants the susceptibility to disease is influenced to a considerable extent by the manuring practice followed. Ill-balanced fertiliser mixtures decrease the capacity for disease resistance; this has been frequently observed after the application of excessive amounts of nitrogenous manures, and has been demonstrated at Rothamsted and Woburn, where wheat and barley suffered most severely from rust and mildew in those plots which received excessive quantities of nitrogen; also at Cheshunt, where tomatoes heavily dressed with nitrogenous manures were readily attacked by disease-producing organisms. The effect of applying phosphoric acid has not, apparently, been clearly demonstrated, but it is generally assumed that, by favouring the development of a vigorous root system, its action is beneficial. Experiments at Cheshunt have shown that the use of manures from which potash has been omitted, produced a condition similar to that following the application of excessive amounts of nitrogenous fertiliser, and that the addition of potash tends to increase appreciably the ability of the plant to resist disease.

II. Preliminary note on the action of calcium, barium, and potassium on muscle

It has been shown by Ringer that calcium prolongs the contraction of the frog’s heart. This prolongation is diminished by the subsequent addition of potash. It occurred to us that calcium and potassium salts might exercise a similar action on voluntary muscle. On trying it, we found this to be the case. Calcium in dilute solution prolongs the duration of the contraction in the gastrocnemius of the frog. Potassium salts subsequently applied shorten the contraction. We have been led to try the effect of barium on muscle by considerations regarding the relations of groups of elements, according to Mendelejeff’s classification, to their physiological action. These considerations we purpose to develop in another paper. The effect of barium is very remarkable. It produces a curve very much like that caused by veratria, both in its form and in the modifications produced in it by repeated stimuli. We have found that the veratria curve is restored by potash to the normal in the case of the gastrocnemius, just as Ringer found it in the case of the frog’s heart. The peculiarity which barium produces in the gastrocnemius is also abolished by potash. We have tested a number of other substances belonging to allied groups, and find that some of them have a similar, though not identical, action with barium. The results of these experiments, as well as the general considerations to which we have already alluded, we purpose to discuss in another paper.