Vitamin assay lab reflection

By Nurul Fizatul Atiqah Binti Hussain

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid. It is a water-soluble vitamin and an essential

vitamin commonly found in citrus fruit such as lemons, grapefruits and oranges. While most
animals are able to synthesize vitamin C in their body, humans do not have the ability to
make

their

own

vitamin

so,

it

must

be

obtained

through

their

diet.

Vitamin C supplementation has been shown to provide positive support for immune system
response, nervous system function, tissue growth and collagen production. Low levels of
vitamin C have been associated with a number of cardiovascular disorders, including heart
disease, hypertension, stroke, and atherosclerosis, as well as some cancers. A sufficient
vitamin C intake may help reduce the risk of developing some of these conditions. Vitamin C
is an essential vitamin that the body is unable to produce on its own. Therefore, it must be
replenished everyday through the diet. A Vitamin C deficiency may result in fatigue and
weakness, swollen gums, nosebleeds, irritability and depressed mood.
For this experiment, we will measure the amount of vitamin C in many different types of
foods. Vitamin C involves in our cells oxidation-reduction reactions. The addition of a
chemical to measure another chemical Vitamin C can react with iodine. Therefore we will
measure the amount of vitamin C by adding iodine to our food extracts until the vitamin C
can bind no more iodine. Iodine in excess of the vitamin C will react with a starch is called a
titration.
We have three food sample that have different condition which is persimmon stored in
refrigerator, boiled persimmon and persimmon stored in room temperature .Firstly, the
persimmon was stored in refrigerator. Next, the food sample was being chopped into small
pieces and place into blender. 100 ml of distilled water was added to the blender. Then, the
sample was blend using the highest speed until the material is thoroughly ground and strain
the ground extract. 30 ml of the strained extract was measured into a 250 ml Erlenmeyer flask
or beaker.
After preparing the vitamin C extracts, we have to measuring vitamin C in the food sample.
Firstly, 30 mL of the food extracts solution was placed in a 250 ml flask or beaker. 2 drops of
the 0.1 M HCl was added to the flask. Next, 5 ml of the starch solution was added to the
flask. A burette was filled with the iodine solution. The initial volume reading was recorded.

Then, the iodine solution was added in 1 ml increments to the flask while swirling the flask
this is called a titration process. The iodine was added until the solution (vitamin c extract)
stays blue-black for 15 seconds and the volume reading on the burette was recorded. The
experiment was repeated using persimmon stored in room temperature and boiled
persimmon. The table below shows the results:
Reading of iodine in

Persimmon stored

Persimmon stored

Boiled persimmon

biuret (ml)
Initial
Final
Final- initial

in refrigerator
50ml
41 ml
9 ml

in room temperature
50 ml
44 ml
6 ml

50 ml
47 ml
3 ml

From the results above, the persimmon stored in refrigerator shows the highest reading of
iodine in biuret which is 9 ml. Persimmon stored in refrigerator contain the highest amount of
Vitamin C because it need more volume of iodine to turned the extract into blue-black. The
iodine will react with the ascorbic acid in the extract solution and then producing a colourless
solution. When the ascorbic acid is runs out, the iodine will react with starch. The colour
changes of extract solution is the endpoint of the reaction. As more volume of iodine added to
the extract, the more Vitamin C in the extract. Persimmon stored in room temperature and
boiled persimmon need less volume of iodine to turn the extract into blue-black. It shows that
persimmon stored in room temperature and boiled persimmon has lower Vitamin C. we can
concluded that temperature and storage time affects the percent of vitamin C content of
persimmon.