DEVELOPMENT OF LATENT

FINGERPRINT BY TURMERIC
POWDER
MRINAAL VIDANI
CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
EXPERIMENT
REVIEW
CONCLUSION
WHY A REVIEW WAS NEEDED?
REFERENCE
 Development of fingerprint by turmeric powder 1

INTRODUCTION turmeric powder for development of

Fingerprints are used prominently as
evidences because each and every individual
possesses identical fingerprints. The
fingerprint patterns can be loops, whorls, or
arches. Loops are the most common patterns
found in human population.
How are fingerprints formed?
Fingerprints are the impressions which are
the result of sweat deposited by the ridges at
the epidermal layer of finger.
Types of fingerprints
 Latent –which cant be seen by necked eyes.
 Plastic – these are the 3D impressions of
fingerprint
 Patent – prints that are visible through
necked eyes.
fingerprint.
Why turmeric ?
Turmeric (Curcuma domestica Val.) is a
perennial herba-ceous rhizomatous plant of
ginger/zingiberaceae family. Turmeric has
been cultivated in India since ancient times.
The rhizomes that produce turmeric are
short roots with blunt rhizomes. The product
is basically known as 1,7-bis-(4-hydroxy-3-
methoxy- phenyl)hepta-1,6-diene-3,5-dione
(also known as curcumin) and also
dimethoxy and bis-dimethoxy derivatives.
The function of curcumin is also applied a
supplement to color foods.

Development methods for latent fingerprints

 Oblique light method

Oblique lighting uses a light source positioned

at a low angle to view fingerprint.

 Powder method

The most prominently used method which uses

several powders for development of fingerprints.
 Chemical method
It uses chemical like iodine, silver
nitrate, ninhydrin, and Cyanoacrylate for
development of fingerprint.
Use of such toxic chemicals can be
harmful for health, thus an experiment
was carried out by using natural
Fig 1.1 – development of fingerprint on
plastic surface by turmeric powder [New
Visualizing Agents for Developing Latent
Fingerprints on Various
Porous and Non-Porous Surfaces Using
Different Household Food Items;
Richa Rohatgi* 1 and A. K. Kapoor 2]
Advantages over chemical methods
 Provide a good print contrast
 Development of fingerprint by turmeric powder 2

 Natural  Then prepared sample was then sealed in

 Easily available glass tubes to prevent reaction with
 Non-toxic oxygen.
 Lower cost of manufacture.
Fig1.3 – preparation of turmeric powder
fig1.2-types of fingerprint and their
development
turmeric washed and
[1kg] peeled off
fingerprint

dried under sliced into

latent plastic patent
sunlight pieces

oblique light
blended into
smooth dried again
texture
powder development
methods

placed in an
chemical airtight seived
container

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Preparation of turmeric powder- Preparation of latent fingerprint sample

 Fresh turmeric (1 kg) was purchased  fingerprints were taken on porous

from local market.
 The it is washed peeled and then sliced
into small pieces with a thickness of 1-2
mm.
 Turmeric was dried under sunlight for
next two days.
 After this it was blended to smooth
texture.
 Then it was again dried by sun or either
by oven [60’C].
 After that turmeric powder was sieved
with 60, 80, 100 and 200 mesh sieve
sizes.
surfaces - A4 paper and door slag paper.
 Latent fingerprints were collected by
using sweat from forehead and area
under the chin.
 Fingerprints were taken on non porous
surface – glass, aluminum foil, plastic
surface.
 Fingerprints were also developed on
compact disks and skin.
Method used –
 The method used was powder dusting
method for development of fingerprint.
 Development of fingerprint by turmeric powder 3

 It is a physical method of enhancement

of latent prints and based on the
principle is mechanical adherence of the
starch adherence
powder particles to the oily components
deposited by the ridges of fingerprint.
components
of turmeric
EXPERIMENT
yellow or
 The turmeric powder is sprayed over the curcumin orange
appearence.
latent fingerprint.
 The powder is spread by using ostrich or
camel brush.
 The developed fingerprint is preserved
and photographed. The reason for the adherence of turmeric
powder to the latent finger print can be
explained as the formation of hydrogen
REVIEW bonds between the fatty acids/glycerides of
sebum and the carbonyl and hydroxyl group
Advantage over other methods of the curcumin component of the turmeric
Development of fingerprints by turmeric powder.
powder can overrule the chemical methods Result of development on different surfaces
which are toxic and can be harmful for
humans. The development of fingerprints by
turmeric was successful because the prints
obtained had clearly visible ridges and
minutiae.

Reason for adherence

A latent fingerprint can be developed due to

the adhesion of powder particles to oily
residues produced by the ridges of
fingerprint. Turmeric powder consists of
starch particles which adhere to the oily
residues of the fingerprint while the
curcumin compound results in the fig 1.5- fingerprint developed on CD by
appearance of yellowish orange color. turmeric powder[A new technique for
visualization of latent fingerprints on various
Fig 1.4- components of turmeric
surfaces using powder from turmeric: A
rhizomatous herbaceous plant (Curcuma
 Development of fingerprint by turmeric powder 4
longa);Rakesh K.Garg
HarishKumariRamanjitKaur]
The turmeric powder when used on contrast
surface gave the best result. The
development of fingerprint on surfaces like
paper, and glass surfaces could be done
successfully. The fingerprints developed on
skin by turmeric were not clearly visible due
to less color contrast. Fingerprints developed
on compact disk can be clearly seen and are
perfect for observation. The visualization of
fingerprint developed by turmeric on plastic
cups was not very clear.
fig 1.6- fingerprint developed on aluminum
foil[a-by turmeric powder ; b- by charcoal
black powder] [A new technique for
visualization of latent fingerprints on various
surfaces using powder from turmeric: A
rhizomatous herbaceous plant (Curcuma
longa);Rakesh K.Garg
HarishKumariRamanjitKaur]
The development of latent fingerprints by
turmeric powder on surfaces like wood ,
floor tiles, painted steel and cemented walls
give clear image of ridges.
Why do we need natural powder instead of
chemicals
 The factory manufactured chemical
powder used for fingerprint development
are costly.
 Turmeric powder is easily available in
household assets and can be used at a
large scale because of the low
manufacturing costs.
 It is not necessary that the manufactured
kits could reach the crime scenes at the
desired times so in such cases turmeric
could rule over the possibilities .
 Turmeric powder is natural and non
toxic as compared to the other chemical
powders used for development of
fingerprint.
 Artificial powders require chemicals and
instruments for production.
 Turmeric powder can be easily
manufactured with less instruments and
no industrial assets.
 In several methods like iodine fuming,
the prints obtained cant be preserved for
a long time, but the prints developed by
turmeric can be stored for at least 2
weeks.
few disadvantages
 Development involve spreading the
powder by brushes , it increases the
chances of smudging the fingerprint due
to rubbing of brush.
 Turmeric is an organic material and it
can react with oxygen present in the air,
thus the color change can be noticed in
the developed print with the passage of
time.
 Development of fingerprint by turmeric powder 5
CONCLUSION
The results have suggested that the turmeric
powder can be successfully employed as a
powder on the majority of surfaces [which
are in contrasting color] except the skin [due
to lack of contrast with turmeric].
The turmeric powdered produced should
have fine and tiny particles with a smooth
texture.
The limitations of this study is that
Development involve spreading the powder
by brushes , it increases the chances of
smudging the fingerprint due to rubbing of
brush.
WHY A REVIEW WAS NEEDED?
 Turmeric is an organic material which
can have affects of different
temperatures which is needed to be
studied further.
 Methods for preservation of fingerprints
developed by turmeric powder are
needed to be enhanced.
REFERENCE
 Development of Eco-Friendly
Fingerprint Visualization using Herb
;SRI ADELILA SARI*, JASMIDI,
AGUS KEMBAREN and AISYAH
NURUL ILMI; Asian Journal of
Chemistry; Vol. 31, No. 11 (2019),
2601-2606
 Conventional Methods of Latent
Fingerprint Development; Faray
Jamal1;School of Bioengineering and
Biosciences ;Lovely Professional
University, Phagwara, Punjab; THINK
INDIA JOURNAL ISSN: 0971-
1260Vol-22-Issue-17-September-2019
 A new technique for visualization of
latent fingerprints on various surfaces
using powder from turmeric: A
rhizomatous herbaceous plant
(Curcuma longa) ;Rakesh K. Garg *,
Harish Kumari, Ramanjit Kaur
;Department of Forensic Science,
Punjabi University, Patiala 147002,
India
 A Technique For Visualisation Of
Latent Fingerprints Turmeric (
Curcuma
Aromatica) Powder On Walls And
Floor.; Aleena Alex, Saveetha dental
college and Hospital, Saveetha Institute
of Medical and technical sciences
(SIMATS), Saveetha University,
Chennai-600077; Dr. Abirami
Arthanari, ; S Rajeshkumar; Drugs
and Cell Therapies in Hematology
(ISSN: 2281-4876); Volume 10 Issue
2 (2021)
 Unconventional powder method is a
useful technique to determine the
latent fi ngerprint impressions
;Harshita Niranjan1;, Shweta Rai1;,
Kapil Raikwar2 , Chanchal ;Kamle2
and Rakesh Mia2 ;Banaras Hindu
University, India
 Development of fingerprint by turmeric powder 6

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