2012

Presence of
Oxalate
ions in
Guava
A Chemistry
Punit
Investigatory
Project

Goswami
12 th B

Certificate

his is to certify that Punit Goswami of class

12th B has satisfactorily completed the
project in chemistry on Presence of Oxalate
ions prescribed by the AISSCE course in the
academic year 2012-13. I have examined the
project and hereby accord my approval of it as a
study carried out and presented in the manner
required for its acceptance. This does not
necessarily endorse or accept every statement
made or opinion expressed or conclusion drawn,
but only signifies the acceptance of the project for
the purpose it is submitted for.

Mr. P.N. Yadav

Dr. Shalini Dikshit

PGT Chemistry

Principal, K.V. Manauri

Acknowledgement
I hereby acknowledge my deep sense of
gratitude and indebtedness to Mr P.N. Yadav, PGT
(Chemistry) whose immense help, genius guidance,

encouragement, necessary suggestions, initiations,

enthusiasm and inspiration made this work a master art
and a joint enterprise.

Contents
o Aim of the project
o Introduction
o Theory
o Requirements
o Chemical
Equations
o Procedure
o Precautions
o Observations
o Calculations
o Conclusions

To study the
presence of oxalate
ions in guava
fruit at different
stages of ripening.

AI
M

Introduction

uava is a common sweet fruit found in

India and many other places around
the world. Guavas are plants in the
Myrtle family (Myrtaceae) genus
Psidium (meaning "pomegranate" in Latin),
which contains about 100 species of tropical
shrub. On ripening it turns yellow in color. Rich
in vitamin C, this fruit is a rich source of oxalate
ions whose content varies during the different
stages of ripening.
Guavas have a pronounced and typical fragrance, similar to lemon
rind but less in strength.

What is oxalate?

t is a carboxylic acid, primarily found in plants and animals. It is

not an essential molecule and is excreted from our body,
unchanged. Our body either produces oxalate on its own or
converts other molecules like Vitamin C to oxalate. External
sources like food also contribute to the accumulation of oxalate in
our body. The oxalate present in the
body is excreted in the form of urine as
waste. Too much of oxalate in our urine
results in a medical condition called
hyperoxaluria, commonly referred to as
kidney
stones. Diet is looked upon as a
preventive
measure in addition to medication to
treat kidney stones.

Theory

xalate ions
are

extracted
from the fruit by
boiling pulp with dilute H2SO4.
The oxalate ions are
estimated
volumetrically,
by
titrating the
solution with
KMnO4
solution. A
reagent, called the titrant, of a known concentration (a standard
solution) and volume is used to react with a solution of the
analyte or titrand, whose concentration is not known. Using a
calibrated burette or chemistry pipetting syringe to add the
titrant, it is possible to determine the exact amount that has
been consumed when the endpoint is reached. The endpoint is
the point at which the titration is complete, as determined by an
indicator. This is ideally the same volume as the equivalence
point.

he volume of added titrant at which the number of

moles of titrant is
equal to the number
of
moles of analyte, or
some multiple
thereof (as in polyprotic acids).
In
the classic strong acid-strong
base titration, the endpoint of a
titration is the point at which
the
pH of the reactant is just about equal to 7, and often when the
solution takes on a persisting solid colour as in the pink
of phenolphthalein indicator.

Requirements
(A) Apparatus
100 ml measuring flask
Pestle & Mortar
Burette

Funnel
Filter Papers

Weighing machine

Beaker

(B)

Chemicals

1. dil. H2SO4

3. (N/10)
KMnO4
solution

2.
4.
5.

(C) Guava fruits at

different stages of
ripening.

6.
Chemical Equations
7.

Molecular Equations
8.
2KMnO 4+ 3H2SO4 K2SO4+
2MnSO4+2H2O + 4[O]
9.
HOOC-COOH.2H2O + [O] 60 C 70 C
2CO2+ 2H2O x 5
10. 3KMnO4+ 3H2SO4+5 HOOC-COOH.2H2O
11.
K2SO4+ 2MnSO4+
18H2O + 10CO2
12.
13. Ionic Equations
414. MnO +16H++ 5e- Mn2++ 4H2O x 2
15.
C2O4 2CO2+ 2e-x 5
2MnO4-+ 16H++ 5C2O42- 2Mn2++8H2O + 10CO2
16.
0

18.

17.
Procedure
19.

(1)
Weighed 50 g of fresh guava and crushed it to a fine
pulp using pestle and mortar.
(2)
Transferred the crushed pulp to a beaker and added
about 50 ml dilute H2SO4 to it.
(3)
Boiled the content for about 10 minutes. Cooled and
filtered the contents in a 100 ml measuring flask.
(4)
Made up the volume 100 ml by adding ample amount of
distilled water.
(5)
Took 20 ml of the solution from the flask and added 20
ml of dilute sulphuric acid to it.
(6)
Heated the mixture to about 600 C and titrated it
against (n/10) KMnO4 solution taken in a burette till the end
point had an appearance of pink colour.
(7)
Repeated the above experiment with 50 g of 1day, 2
day and 3 day old guava fruits.
20.

21. Precautions

1.There should be no parallax while taking

measurements.
2. Spillage of chemicals should be checked.
3. Avoid the use of burette having a rubber tap as
KMnO4attacks rubber.
4. In order to get some idea about the temperature of the
solution touch the flask with the back side of your hand.
When it becomes unbearable to touch, the required
temperature is reached.
5. Add about an equal volume of dil. H2SO4 to the guava
extract to be titrated (say a full test tube) before adding
KMnO4.

6. Read the upper meniscus while taking burette reading

with KMnO4 solution.
7. In case, on addition of KMnO4 a brown ppt. appears, this
shows that either H2SO4 has not been added or has
been added in insufficient amount. In such a case,
throw away the solution and titrate again.
22.
23.

Observations
24.

1.Weight of the guava fruit for each time was 50 g.

2.Volume of guava extract taken for each titration was 20
ml.
3.Normality of KMnO4 solution was (1/10).
4.END POINT: Colour Changes to pink
25. Guav 26. Bur
a Solution ette
reading
Initial
30. Raw
31. 150
35. Semi- 36. 150
ripened
40. Ripen 41. 150
ed

27. Final 28. Volu

Reading me of
KMnO4
32. 18
37. 13

33. 132
38. 137

42. 10.8

43. 139.
2

29. Conc
urrent
Reading

34. 136.0
6

45. Calculations
1) For raw guava
46. N1V1 = N2V2
47. N1 x 10 = (1/10) x132
48. 1/10 x Normality of oxalate = (x/100) =
strength of oxalate in fresh guava extract = normality
x Eq. mass of oxalate ion
49.
= 1.32/100 x 44g/litre of diluted
extract

50.
= 0.581 g L-1
2) For semi ripened guava (1 day old).
51. Strength of oxalate in one day old guava extract
52.
= (1.37 /100) x 44g/litre of diluted
extract
53.
= 0.603 g L-1
3) For ripened guava
54. Strength of oxalate in fresh guava extract
= ( 1.39/100) x 44g/litre of diluted
extract
55.
=
0.612 g L-1
56.

Results

(a) The normality of oxalate ions of;

57.
(i) Fresh guava solution is = 1.32 ml
58.
(ii) Semi-ripen guava solution is = 1.37 ml
59.
(iii) Ripened guava solution is = 1.39 ml
(b) The strength of oxalate ions of;
(i) Fresh guava solution is = 0.58 ml
(ii)
Semi-ripened guava is = 0.60 ml
(iii)
Ripened guava is = 0.61 ml

60. Conclusions

61.
62.
The content of oxalate ions in guava was found to be
59.67 per cent, which is close to the literature value of 60
percent.
63.
It was also noticed that the content of oxalic ions
grows with ripening of guava.
64.
65.

66. Bibliography
1.Search engines used:
www.google.com

 www.wikipedia.com
www.reader.google.com
www.labs.google.com
www.quora.com
2. Practical Chemistry by Laxmi Publications.
3. The Family Encyclopedia by Dorling Kindersley.
67.