Study on the Microscopic Identification of the Adulterated Plant Origin Powdered Seasonings

The present study applied the microscopic powder identification technique to determining the adulterated seasoning powders from several plant origins, such as chili, pepper, cumin and mustard. The microscope observation results showed that the chili powder were adulterated with the fragments of plant straws, foliage and other substances; the pepper powder were adulterated with starch, straws and monosodium glutamate as well as some other substances; cumin and mustard powders were adulterated with straws and starch, etc. The research results showed that the identification method adopted in this study is suitable for determining the adulterated seasoning powders from different plant origins, capable of distinguishing the pure product of the seasonings mentioned above from the adulterated one and able to detect the micro-morphology of the adulterating substances directly.