.1S-1	QUANTITATf
tfi;

AGRICULTURAL ANALYSIS
fable
-heichert-meissl ntjmbeks

Oil or fat

Xteichert-
Mcissl number

Oil or fat

Reichert-
Meissl number

Butter fat | 2S.5 7 13 | | 7 5 47
Cocoanut Oroton | | Palmnut |

Porpoise |

w

Butter and Substitutes. — Practically speaking, the deter-
mination of Reichcrt-MCelssl number is a test chiefly of value in
the dairy laboratory. Butter substitutes are of two general
classes: (a) Oleomargerlrxes, made chiefly from refined lard and
"olco oil" (the olcin of beef tallow) and (6) preparations in
which cocoanut fat is one of the essential constituents. For
members of the first class the Reichert-Meissl number will be
less than 1, while mixtures of the second class will show numbers
ranging up to 7, according to the per cent of cocoanut fat in the
preparation. The riuml>er for pure butter is about 28.5, as noted
in the table above.
Applications to butter testing are noted in the chapter on
Dairy Products, page 223.
Spitzcr and Kpple^1 have constructed the chart shown in Fig.
45 for the application of Iteichert-Meissl and saponifi cation num-
bers to the approximate calculations of the proportion of oleo
oils, cocoanut fat and butter fat in adulterated butters and butter
substitutes. While no great accuracy is claimed for this pro-
cedure, it will undoubtedly give useful information in the inter-
pretation of analytical results.
Determination   of   Reich ert:—3MCeissl   Number. — Prepare   the  following

 (a)	tiodium hydroxide notation in water, 50 per cent by weight.
 (b)	Alcohol, 95 per ccrtl, redistilled from sodium or potassium hydroxide.
(r) Sulphuric «aW, 1 part concentrated acid in 5 parts water.
(d) PotanHium hydroxitle, approximately tenth-normal; standardized
afcainHt Htamia.nl acid, uning phexiolphthalein as indicator.
If the Hampki is either real or imitation butter it will contain water
and curd. Mdt and keep at 60° until the fat has separated and, if necessary,
filter the fat through a dry p^per placed in a hot-water funnel (Fig.
60, page 226).
^lhuL Kjcp. £to. Bull, 284