Abstract
Thin layer chromatography has been investigated for the identification of cashew nut shell, one of the common adulterants in ground coffee, tea, and chicory. The ether extract of the sample is applied to silica gel C plates and developed with benzene-dioxane-acetic acid (90+25+4) . Cashew nut shell shows 3 distinctive spots (Rf 0.7, 0.54, and 0.34) with diazotized benzidine which are totally absent in tea, coffee, and chicory. The spots have been identified as anacardic acid, cardol, and anacardol, respectively.