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INTRODUCTION:
Vitamin C toxicity is very rare, because the body cannot store the
vitamin. However, amounts greater than 2,000 mg/day are not
recommended because such high doses can lead to stomach upset and
diarrhea. Too little vitamin C can lead to signs and symptoms of
deficiency, including dry and splitting hair, Gingivitis (inflammation of the
gums), bleeding gums, rough, dry, scaly skin, decreased wound-healing
rate, easy bruising, nosebleeds, weakened tooth enamel, swollen and
painful joints, anemia, decreased ability to fight infection and possible
weight gain because of slowed metabolism. A severe form of vitamin C
deficiency is known as scurvy, which mainly affects older, malnourished
adults.
Vitamin C is highly sensitive to air, water, and temperature. About
25% of the vitamin C in vegetables can be lost simply by blanching
(boiling or steaming the food for a few minutes). This same degree of
loss occurs in the freezing and unthawing of vegetables and fruits.
Cooking of vegetables and fruits for longer periods of time (10-20
minutes) can result in a loss of over one half the total vitamin C content.
When fruits and vegetables are canned and then reheated, only 1/3 of
the original vitamin C content may be left. Consumption of vitamin C-rich
foods in their fresh, raw form is the best way to maximize vitamin C
intake.
When all the ascorbic acid in the solution has been used up in a
titration, there will not be any electrons available to reduce the DCPIPH
and the solution will remain pink due to the DCPIPH. The end point is a
pink colour that persists for 10 seconds or more.
HYPOTHESIS:
The smaller the volume of fruit juice needed to decolourise DCPIP
solution, the higher is the vitamin C content in the fruit juice. Lemon juice
has the highest content of vitamin C among the various fruit juices.
VARIABLES:
Manipulated variable : Type of fruit juices
APPARATUS:
Test tubes, beakers, spatula, syringes, mortar and pestle.
MATERIALS:
500mg vitamin C tablets, 1% dichorophenolinphenol (DCPIP), freshly
squeezed orange, lemon and lime juices, distilled water.
PROCEDURE:
3. The ascorbic acid is then titrated drop by drop into the test tube
containing DCPIP solution.
4. Ascorbic acid is added until the blue colour of DCPIP solution
turned colourless.
5. The volume of 0.125% of ascorbic acid is measured.
6. The experiment is repeated two times to get the average in order
to increase accuracy.
7. Steps 1-6 are repeated using ascorbic acid of concentration
0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, 0.875% and 1%.
8. A standard curve is plotted base on the result.
Testing the concentration of vitamin C in fruit juices
1. 1 ml of DCPIP solution is measured and placed into a test tube.
2. Then, 1ml of freshly squeezed orange juice is measured using a
syringe.
3. The juice is then added into the test tube containing DCPIP
solution.
4. Juice is continued being inserted into the test tube until DCPIP
solution decolourise.
5. The volume of orange juice needed to decolourised the DCPIP
solution is recorded.
6. The experiment using orange juice is repeated two more times to
get the average in order to increase accuracy of result obtained.
7. Steps 1 to 6 are repeated by replacing orange juice with freshly
squeezed lemon juice and lime juice.
8. The data obtained is tabulated.
9. The concentration of each fruit juices are figured out by using the
standard curve graph of vitamin C solution.
RESULTS:
(125mg)
(250mg)
(500mg)
(750mg)
(875mg)
(1000mg)
3.00
Volume of vitamin C (ml)
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
0.125 0.250 0.500 0.750 0.875 1.000
Concentration of vitamin C (%)
Volume of juices needed to decolourise DCPIP solution (ml)
DISCUSSION:
Data interpretations:
Limitations:
There are several limitations during this experiment. When fruit
juice is dropped into test tube containing DCPIP solution, a suspension
formed and its colour slowly change to black. The presence of the
suspension in DCPIP solution makes it harder to determine whether
DCPIP solution has been completely decolourise.
Next, the fruits used in this experiment- that is before they are
squeezed; were prepared earlier by the laboratory assistant and the
fruits had been exposed to air for a long time before experiment is
started. The air oxidized the fruits that already been cut into half
therefore reduce the amount of vitamin C in fruits.
CONCLUSION:
1. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002404.htm
[medline plus]
2. http://www.3dchem.com/molecules.asp?ID=69 [3Dchem.com]
3. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=109
[whfoods.org]
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C [wikipedia.org]