National Chemistry Week 2025: Celebrate "The Hidden Life of Spices" with Resources from the Journal of Chemical Education

National Chemistry Week, a community-based annual event uniting ACS local sections, businesses, schools, and individuals in communicating and promoting the value of chemistry in our everyday life, is being celebrated October 19–25, 2025 with the theme "The Hidden Life of Spices". Ideas for exploring and experimenting with spices and their uses can be found in the articles listed below from the Journal of Chemical Education. These materials can be used to motivate students, illustrate important chemical concepts, and communicate the value of chemistry. Make the most of this annual celebration by connecting chemistry to students’ everyday lives through resources from the Journal of Chemical Education.

Using Spices to Teach Chemical and Experimental Concepts

Soxhlet Extraction and Analysis of Spices through Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectroscopy
Ashton Cromwell, Dung Schmick, Hailey Lynch, and Anuradha Liyana Pathiranage
Journal of Chemical Education 2025 102 (5), 2042-2048
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c01227

Mass Spectrometry Does Not Need to Be a “Grind”: Plant Secondary Metabolites in Coffee and Black Pepper as a Practical Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) Teaching Tool
Maris A. Cinelli and Alexander E. Wilson
Journal of Chemical Education 2024 101 (3), 1257-1267
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01255

Adapting Chiral Gas Chromatography into Existing Undergraduate Laboratories to Emphasize the Importance of Stereochemistry
Nicholas Griffin, Marshall Ritchie, Tyler Lynn, Kate Dear, Tyler Christian John Deutsch, Leigha Dillard, Kenneth Overway, and Barnabas Otoo
Journal of Chemical Education 2024 101 (2), 547-553
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00416

A Specifications-Graded, Spice-Themed, General Chemistry Laboratory Course Using an Argument-Driven Inquiry Approach
Shannon J. Saluga, Alyssa M. Burns, Yong Li, Melanie M. Nguyen, and Kimberly D. Edwards
Journal of Chemical Education 2023 100 (10), 3903-3915
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00433

Phytochemical Analysis and Determination of the Chemical Composition of Larvicidal Extracts of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum L.) Waste: An Undergraduate Chemistry Experiment
Danielle R. Lucas, Thaiany S. C. Bressiani, Anne C. C. Gomes, Ingrid M. Hayashide, Naomi K. Simas, Maria F. F. Lelis, Ricardo M. Kuster, and Paulo R. G. Moura
Journal of Chemical Education 2021 98 (4), 1397-1403
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c01106

Cinnamon Oil: An Alternate and Inexpensive Resource for Green Chemistry Experiments in Organic Chemistry Laboratory
Liza Abraham, Laura Stachow, and Hechao Du
Journal of Chemical Education 2020 97 (10), 3797-3805
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c00851

Simple and Inexpensive UV-Photometer Using LEDs as Both Light Source and Detector
Eivind V. Kvittingen, Lise Kvittingen, Birte Johanne Sjursnes, and Richard Verley
Journal of Chemical Education 2016 93 (10), 1814-1817
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00156

Using a Sequence of Experiments with Turmeric Pigments from Food To Teach Extraction, Distillation, and Thin-Layer Chromatography to Introductory Organic Chemistry Students
Thayssa da S. F. Fagundes, Karen Danielle B. Dutra, Carlos Magno R. Ribeiro, Rosângela de A. Epifanio, and Alessandra L. Valverde
Journal of Chemical Education 2016 93 (2), 326-329
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00138

Extraction of Eugenol from Cloves Using an Unmodified Household Espresso Machine: An Alternative to Traditional Steam-Distillation
Jeremy Just, Grace L. Bunton, Bianca J. Deans, Natasha L. Murray, Alex C. Bissember, and Jason A. Smith
Journal of Chemical Education 2016 93 (1), 213-216
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00476

Isolation and Analysis of Essential Oils from Spices
Stephen K. O’Shea, Daniel D. Von Riesen, and Lauren L. Rossi
Journal of Chemical Education 2012 89 (5), 665-668
DOI: 10.1021/ed101141w

Examining Chemical Applications of Spices

Bio-oil from Piper nigrum L. Crop Waste as a Potential Biofuel and Its Contribution to Chemistry Education through Problematized Experimental Activity
Gyovana L. Welsing, Bruna M. Damm, Lília do E. S. A. de Oliveira, Amanda M. A. Feu, Heryson T. L. de Arantes, Luisa C. de Lima, André L. S. da Silva, Mariane L. de Souza, Marta A. Machado, and Paulo R. G. de Moura
Journal of Chemical Education 2024 101 (11), 4745-4755
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00449

Molecules in Medicine: A Week-Long Multidisciplinary Summer Camp for High School Students
Shannon C. Timmons and Aleksandra Kuzmanov
Journal of Chemical Education 2024 101 (4), 1544-1550
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01014

Rapid Isolation of Plant Essential Oil Components by Small-Scale Dry Column Vacuum Chromatography: An Experiment Combining Natural Product Isolation and Antibacterial Testing
James A. Ciaccio and Baran Ak
Journal of Chemical Education 2022 99 (7), 2704-2709
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00380

Antimicrobial Properties of Spices: An Activity for High School or Introductory Chemistry or Biology
Anne M. Sousa and Walter R. Waldman
Journal of Chemical Education 2014 91 (1), 103-106
DOI: 10.1021/ed200701w

Soap from Nutmeg: An Integrated Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory Experiment
Marcio C. S. de Mattos and David E. Nicodem
Journal of Chemical Education 2002 79 (1), 94
DOI: 10.1021/ed079p94

Exploring Acid-Base Chemistry with Spices

Development of Acid–Base Indicators from Natural Pigments in Agar Gel
Rany Im, Tsutomu Iwayama, and Masashi Osa
Journal of Chemical Education 2023 100 (12), 4707-4713
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00131

Turmeric and RGB Analysis: A Low-Cost Experiment for Teaching Acid–Base Equilibria at Home
Rolando M. Caraballo, Leila M. Saleh Medina, Sergio G. J. Gomez, Priscila Vensaus, and Mariana Hamer
Journal of Chemical Education 2021 98 (3), 958-965
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.0c01165

Developing an Invisible Message about Relative Acidities of Alcohols in the Natural Products Henna, Turmeric, Rose Petals, and Vitamin A
Brahmadeo Dewprashad and Latifa Hadir
Journal of Chemical Education 2010 87 (1), 36-39
DOI: 10.1021/ed800014k

Acid-Base Reactions with Carbon Dioxide
Ana Paula Carvalho, Ångela F. S. S. Mendonça, and M. Fátima M. Piedade
Journal of Chemical Education 2002 79 (12), 1464A
DOI: 10.1021/ed079p1464A

Investigating the Scents and Flavors of Spices

Chemistry of Candy: A Sweet Approach to Teaching Nonscience Majors
Jennifer Logan Bayline, Halie M. Tucci, David W. Miller, Kaitlin D. Roderick, and Patricia A. Brletic
Journal of Chemical Education 2018 95 (8), 1307-1315
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00739

Using Flavor Chemistry To Design and Synthesize Artificial Scents and Flavors
Jessica L. Epstein, Michael Castaldi, Grishma Patel, Peter Telidecki, and Kevin Karakkatt
Journal of Chemical Education 2015 92 (5), 954-957
DOI: 10.1021/ed500615a

The Chemistry of Perfume: A Laboratory Course for Nonscience Majors
Jennifer L. Logan and Craig E. Rumbaugh
Journal of Chemical Education 2012 89 (5), 613-619
DOI: 10.1021/ed2004033

Apple Fool! An Introduction to Artificial Flavors
JCE Staff
Journal of Chemical Education 2003 80 (4), 408A
DOI: 10.1021/ed080p408A