Improvements in the Manufacture of Light Coloured or White Pepper Corns, and also of Colouring Matter from Black or Dark Coloured Pepper Corns.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Feb., 1888
Specification Accepted, 23rd Mar., 1888.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Light Coloured or White
Pepper Corns, and also of Colouring Matter from Black or Dark
Coloured Pepper Corns.
I, ANTHONY DUNDERDALE of 144, Harrowby Street, Liverpool in the County of
Lancaster, Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
Black pepper
is much less valuable than white, and is therefore frequently subjected
to long washing and steeping processes, or to abrasion, under which it is lessened
considerably in weight and even in pungency.
Now my invention is designed to effect the alteration with very slight loss in weight,
and none of pungency. I effect this by a combination of three steps.
1st. Washing or soaking the pepper in an alkaline liquor.
2nd. Washing in water, preferably hot, to remove the coloured alkaline liquor.
3rd. Bleaching.
The alkaline liquor, I prefer is a solution of soda ash. The bleaching can be
effected by placing the pepper in a bath of chloride of lime and water, till the requisite
whiteness is obtained, but other colourless bleaching solutions can be used, not giving
a taste to the pepper, and easily removed after washing.
In carrying my invention into practice, a great variety of plant at once present
themselves, all applicable.
The apparatus, I have adopted is simple and convenient and is set forth in section
in the accompanying drawings.
A is a chamber to contain the soda ash, B steam pipe with rose at end dipping into
the liquor. C safety valve D fastening, E hinge. F cock. G tank to contain pepper.
H is a sluice through which the tank G can be emptied into trolly I. J is a cock for
running off the dye liquor.
The mode of operation is as follows:-
The tank Gis nearly filled with pepper, tank A with a solution of soda ash.
10 pounds of soda ash are required for each hundredweight of pepper of the ordinary
black variety. The soda ash solution is run into tank G, while hot from steaming
and water added, if required, till the solution comes in contact with all the pepper, it

page_text: is now stirred and left to stand, till on trying a sample, the colouring matter is found
to have been almost completely dissolved off. The liquor is now run off and preserved
for dying purposes, and a solution of $4 lbs. of chloride of lime to 250 gallons of
water added till the seed has been sufficiently bleached, this solution is in turn run off
and fresh water run through to wash the pepper, the latter is now taken out and dried.
The coloured solution is allowed to stand to remove dirt, decanted and treated with
hydrochloric acid to precipitate the colouring matter, and the latter sold for use in
dyeing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1st. The process of separating the colouring matter from black or dark coloured
pepper, substantially as herein described.
2nd. The process of obtaining white or light coloured pepper from dark or black
pepper, substantially as herein described.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co..
-Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.