Boric acid detection in wheat flour using “Tears of the Wine” phenomenon

Abstract

Adulteration in food commodities is problematic issue as it compromises consumer confidence. Wheat flour is added with boric acid because boric acid acts as antimicrobial agent and insecticide. Boric acid is toxic particularly in long run as it damages vital organs and thus not approved as preservative in food products in many countries including India. Thus fast, easy and cheap methods are required for boric acid adulteration. No method is reported using “Tears of the Wine” phenomenon in literature and this study is first to report use of this physical phenomenon for easy detection of boric acid. Using “Tears of Wine” phenomenon based method where visible cottony growth can be observed on conical flask ream we were able to detect minimum level of 0.4% w/w boric acid adulteration in wheat flour.