150
On the Detection of Adulteration of Ghee
The phytosteryl acetate test can ofcourse never be dispensed with as an absolute and final proof of
the use of adulterant vegetable oils, though its use as a routine can never of course be possible. It
has at various times been stated that over-heated oils and paraffin oils interfere with the accuracy of
the determination.
THE SCOPE OF FUTURE WORK AND LEGISLATION
Further work should lie in the direction of:
1. Statistically planned, extended trials of the analyses of ghee from various parts of India,
with a view to fixing the limits of the constants, their interrelationship and the deviations with respect
to an average interrelationship.
2. Systematic feeding experiments with a view both to indicate the variations in the constants
and to give some idea especially of buffalo fat metabolism.
3. Giving an extended trial to the more promising methods listed above : the estimation
linoleic acid by the iodine and thiocyanogen values and of butyric acid enzymatically using a specific
butyrinase, the ' A ', ' B', and neutralization values. etc.
Further improvement of legislation and impetus by Government should be directed to—
1. Fixing legal standards for ghee on the basis of an analytical interrelationship rather than
on that of individual maxima and minima.
2. Fixing separate standards for cow and buffalo ghee and preventing their admixture.
3. Grading on a zonal rather than on a Provincial or All-India basis.
4. Lowering the high acidities at present allowed by law, and thus forcing the conversion of
butter immediately into ghee since the prime cause of high acidity in ghee is the putrefaction at the
butter stage [Rangappa and Banerjee, 1946]. It is anomalous that hydrogenated fat of
excellent quality should be produced side by side with lawfully high-acid, bad-quality ghee.
5. Adding to vanaspati 5-10 per cent of sesamum oil or even smaller percentages of sesamol
or gossypol to render easy the detection of fraudulent adulteration in ghee.
6. Forming rural co-operative societies which would collect the daily outturn of butter and convert
it immediately into ghee ensuring a low-acid product.
7. Disseminating scientific knowledge in popular and attractive form especially to the rural
population, who are the prime producers of dairy products in India.
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Achaya, K. T. and Banerjee, B. N. (1945, 1). Indian J. vet. Sci. 15, 271
Achaya, K. T. and Banerjee, B. N. (1945, 2). Indian J. vet. Sci. 15, 261
Achaya, K. T. Katrak and Banerjee B. N. (1946). Curr. Sci. 15
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Miller, P. G., Lease, E. J. and Anderson, G. W. (1940). Ibid 23, 573
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