The adulteration of food products has become one of the most commonly prevalent practices in the market. From the pulses you purchase to the fruits you buy, no food product is left that has not been adulterated to make them appear of good quality. Essential oils including mustard oil are also placed in these products. Mustard oil is a common ingredient and has many uses, i.e., – skin use, cooking, etc. Therefore, it is advisable to be aware of the pure and the contaminated mustard oil. This space articulates six tests that you can do to check the purity level of the mustard oil.
1. If you are using mustard oil, place the oil bottle in the refrigerator to check its purity. If mixed with palm oil, it will settle at the bottom of the bottle. Meanwhile, the mustard oil will remain on top. Palm oil will freeze but mustard oil will not. Palm oil is linked to several health risks linked as heart health and inflammation.
2. To verify whether the mustard oil is real or fake, take some oil in your hands and rub it well on the body. If any colour comes out from the oil or there is a chemical smell, the oil is fake. Mustard oil has a distinctive pungent flavour and may irritate the eyes. Eye irritation indicates good quality and the presence of natural essential oil.
3. For the barometer test, pour mustard oil into a bowl and dip a barometer gently. A reading between 58 to 60.5 points the oil is likely adulteration. To avoid impure mustard oil, purchase the food product from a reputed company.
4. To perform the nitric acid test, mix 5ml of mustard oil and 5ml of Nitric acid in a test tube, shake gently, and observe the colour. Unadulterated mustard oil won’t change colour, while impure oil will show an orange-yellow to red colour in the acidic layer.
5. When heating mustard oil in a pan, notice the colour of the smoke and the oil’s smell. If there is dense smoke and a burning sensation in the eyes, it means the oil is clean. It is because the pure mustard oil’s smell is strong. The smell of impure oil is not very strong.
6. The colour of pure mustard oil is golden and dark yellow. If it shows a different colour, this implies that the oil is adulterated.
