INDIRA NATIONAL SCHOOL

INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

BIOLOgY

(2022-23)
TO ESTIMATE VITAMIN C CONTENT IN DIFFERENT
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Abhimanyu Bhasin
XI Science Alpha
Roll no.-2
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 INDIRA NATIONAL SCHOOL

CERTIFICATE

THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE PROJECT WORK ENTERED IN THIS

PROJECT REPORT BELONGS TO

_____________________________________________________________ OF CLASS XII SCIENCE ALPHA / BETA,

ROLL NO _________________ AND CBSE EXAM ROLL NO. ______________________________________ HAS
SATISFACTORILY COMPLETED THE PROJECT IN BIOLOGY FOR THE

ACADEMIC YEAR 2022-2023 AS LAID DOWN BY THE CBSE BOARD.

PRINCIPAL EXTERNAL INTERNAL

EXAMINER EXAMINER

SCHOOL STAMP

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to
my biology teacher Mrs. Ashwini Kulkarni, for
her guidance and support at each stage of
preparing and completing my project.

I would also like to express my sincere thanks to

our principal Mrs. Aarti Garampalli and our
Vice Principal Mrs. Aakanksha Bhangaonkar
for her continuous guidance and support.

I would also like to thank the CBSE board for

providing me with the opportunity to perform
such an interesting project.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my

parents and friends, who helped me to execute
and complete the project successfully.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
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 SR. TITLE PAGE NO.
NO.
1. INTRODUCTION 5
2. AIM / OBJECTIVE 7
3. MATERIAL REQUIRED 8
4. THEORY / PRINCIPLE 9
5. PROCEDURE 10
6. OBSERVATIONS 11
7. CALCULATION 12
8. PRECAUTIONS 12
9. RESULT 13
10. REFERENCES / BIBLIOGRAPHY

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  Introduction

Vitamin C or known as L-ascorbate is an essential nutrient

for humans and certain other animal species. In living
organisms, ascorbate which is an ion of ascorbic acid acts
as an antioxidant by protecting the body against oxidative
stress. It is also a cofactor in at least eight enzymatic
reactions. Vitamin C also aids in detoxification and in
improving ferum absorption. Other that, vitamin C also
ensure the maintenance of cartilage, bone, denin and
healthy blood vessel. Humans and rodents cannot
synthesis vitamin C but most of other animals have the
ability to synthesis vitamin C.

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Thus, intake of Vitamin C ensures healthy lifestyle. Since
vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, since it cannot be
stored in human body. The uses and recommended daily
intake of vitamin C are matters of ongoing debate, with RDI
ranging from 45 to 95 mg/day. Vitamin C is most present in
the liver and least present in the muscle. Since muscle
provides the majority of meat consumed in the western
human diet, animal products are not a reliable source of the
vitamin. Vitamin C is present in mother's milk but, not
present in raw cow's milk. All excess vitamin C is disposed
of
through the urinary system.

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  AIM
To estimate Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) content in different
fruits and vegetables by Dye Titration and Blank Titration.

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  Requirements
Pipettes, Burettes, Conical Flasks, Measuring Cylinder,
Weighing Machine, Beakers, Different Fruits and Vegetables
(For e.g.: Papaya, Guava, Orange, Tomato), Glacial Acetic
Acid, Chloroform, Dye solution.

Dye Solution: 0.125 g of Sodium Salt of Dichlorophenol

indophenol is dissolves in 100 ml of water. Add 0.0165 g of
Potassium Hydrogen Phosphate (K2HPO4) and 0.0202 g of
Potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4) and make the
volume to 250 ml.

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  Theory
Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) is a water-soluble vitamin but
insoluble in fats. It increases resistance to diseases and common
cold. Its deficiency causes Scurvy, anaemia, bleeding in gums
and delayed wound healing. It gets destroyed on heating. Citrus
fruits, vegetables, tomato and amla are the best sources of
Vitamin C.
Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) reacts with coloured dye –
2, 6-dichlorophenol indophenol in acid medium to give a
colourless reduced dye.

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 Procedure

1. Extract the fruit/vegetable juice and filter it.

2. Dilute 20 ml juice to 100 ml with distilled water.

3. Take 10 ml of fruit/vegetable juice into a conical flask and

add 2 ml acetic acid and 2 ml of chloroform.

4. Titrate it with dye solution taken in a burette till the colour

of chloroform layer changes from colourless to pink.

5. Repeat the Titrations to get 3 concordant readings.

6. Standard Titration- Titration 10 ml of standard Ascorbic

Acid solution with dye solution as above.

7. Blank Titration- Titrate 10 ml distilled water, 2 ml

chloroform, 2 ml of
acetic acid in conical
flask and titrate with
dye solution turns
solution turns pink in
colour.

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  Observations
Name of Fruit Weight (g) Juice (ml) Amt of
Ascorbic Acid
Lemon 27.70 13 4.16
Orange 86.50 34 9.86
Pomelo 99.93 43 25.80
Guava 95.52 45.8 10.53
Grapefruit 599 170.5 75.65

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  Calculation
Concentration of Vitamin C in the fruit juice.
( b−d )
= ( b−c )
×a × dilution of juice

Similarly, calculate the Vitamin C content for other fruits

and vegetables.

 Precautions

1. Take care while handling

chloroform.

2. Measurement should be accurate when preparing dye

solution.

3. Avoid Wastage of Fruits and Vegetables.

4. Ensure the Apparatus is Clean while the Experiment.

5. Make sure all the Fruits and Vegetables are Fresh.

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  Result

Grapefruit is the Richest Source of Vitamin C in the compared

Data as it contains 75.65 ml of Ascorbic Acid/ 100 g.

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 References/Bibliography
https://www.seminarsonly.com/Engineering-Projects/
Chemistry/vitamin-c-in-fruit-juices.php

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/42989871.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Determination-of-
ascorbic-acid-content-in-each-fruits-according-to-their-
weight_tbl1_314395625

https://www.selfstudys.com/books/cbse-lab-manual/english/
11th/biology---lab-manual/7255

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