Problem:

Packaged juices do not provide adequate nutrients as claimed and can have
harmful effects to human health.

Objectives:

To determine which orange juice has the most Vitamin C (ascorbic acid):
fresh-squeezed orange juice, premium not-from-concentrate orange juice or
juice made from frozen concentrate. 

 Introduction:

Abstract Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) is an antioxidant vitamin, which is

important for the human body in forming collagen, a protein that gives
structure to bones, cartilages, muscles, and blood vessels.

Vitamin C also helps the body to absorb iron, helps wounds to heal, helps red
blood cell formation and helps to fight infections. Some studies even suggest
that vitamin C prevents cancer. A lack of vitamin C can cause a disease called
scurvy, iron deficiency and poor wound healing. A healthy diet should
include high amounts of vitamin C and oranges are an excellent source of it.

 Vitamin C is usually affected by availability of fruits and vegetables due to

seasonal variations. To ensure its availability all year round, fruits juices and
drinks are often preserved and packaged. It is the most easily destroyed
vitamin and it is easily harmed during food preparation. There are many
factors that will affect how much vitamin C is in orange juice. During juice
processing, temperature and oxygen are the main factors responsible for
vitamin C losses. Nonthermal processed juices retain higher levels of vitamin
C, but economic factors apparently delay the use of such methods in the
citrus industry. Regarding packing material, vitamin C in fruit juice is quite
stable when stored in metal or glass containers, whereas juice stored in
plastic bottles has a much shorter shelf-life.

 Packaged juice cannot be healthy when compared to freshly squeezed juice

or fresh whole fruits. They are high in calories as compared to the fresh juices
made at home. The packed juices contain simple carbs which can raise the
blood glucose level immediately. In fact, it is also said that the most spoiled
fruits are brought to the industry to make packaged juices and the small
amount of antioxidants and vitamins present in the juice do not make up for
the high sugar content it has.

 The above graph presents the results of a comparative analysis of vitamin C

content of some locally available packed and fresh fruit juices. The result of
this study showed that all of the fresh fruit juices analyzed, contained
significantly higher vitamin C concentrations compared to those found in
packed juices for the same fruits

Problem questions:

● Can more concentrated sugar and calories in packaged products

lead to illnesses like obesity and weight gain?
● Do juices provide any benefit as compared to consuming the fruit
directly?
● Do the packaged juice in fact contain the same amount of nutrients
as claimed by the manufacturers?
 ● Do fresh juices provide more nutrients and health benefits than
packaged products?

Materials Required:

Equipment - Burette and stand, pipette, measuring cylinders, conical

flasks.

 Juices - Fresh-squeezed orange juice, premium not-from-concentrate

orange juice, juice made from frozen concentrate

 Chemicals and solvents- Vitamin C tablets, 2% Iodine solution,

cornstarch and water

Procedure:

Preparation of solutions :
● Mix one tablespoon of cornstarch and water to make a paste, add
250 milliliters of water and boil.
● Add 10 drops of this solution to 75 milliliters of hot water, stirring.
● To this solution, add 12 drops of 2% iodine solution.
● Vitamin C standard solution was prepared by dissolving 0.250 mg
vitamin C in 100ml distilled water and diluted to 250 ml with
distilled water.

Standardizing of Vitamin C and Titration:

● 25 ml of vitamin C standard solution and juice samples were added
to a flask.
● 10 drops of starch solution was added to each flask.
● A burette was rinsed with 10 ml iodine solution and then filled with
the iodine solution which was used to titrate the vitamin C solution
and the juice samples until the indicator solution changes from blue
to colorless or until the solution no longer changes color. This is the
endpoint.
● Titration volume (consumed iodine solution) was recorded and each
time titration was repeated three times until results that agreed
within 0.1 ml were obtained.
● Vitamin C content of juice samples was calculated based on results
from titration of standard vitamin C solution using the following
formula: CVitC(juice) = Vt(juice) X [CVitC(SS)/Vt(SS)] 
 Where, CVitC(juice) is the concentration of vitamin C in sample juices,
Vt(juice) is the average titration volume of sample juices, CVitC(SS) is a
concentration of vitamin C in the standard solution, and Vt(SS) is the
average titration volume of standard solution. 

Observations:

 Analysis of the data:

The results summarized in the table indicate that each juice sample has a
different titre value to attain its end point. This is due to the differences of the
amount of vitamin C in different juices. The juice with lower amount of
vitamin C required less of the titrant to attain its end point whereas the juices
with higher amounts of vitamin C required more of the titrant to attain the
permanent end point-color. This is due to the fact that the color changes
when all the vitamin C of the sample has been completely reduced and only
starch is in the solution which combines with the iodine from the titrant
produces purplish-blue color. The results of the freshly squeezed fruit juices
showed significant difference with the packed product of the same juice
 

Conclusion:

Based on the results of this experiment, we can conclude that fresh-

squeezed orange juice has more Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) than premium not-
from-concentrate orange juice or orange juice made from frozen
concentrate. Manufactured juices are subject to pasteurization and/or
freezing processes that may have a destructive effect on their Vitamin C
content. Even though some manufacturers add Vitamin C after pasteurization,
it appears that the benefits of Vitamin C are best found in a diet including
fresh-squeezed orange juice. 

Limitations of the study:

● Amount of Vitamin C was compared in only type of juice
● Limited number of brands were tested in this experiment
● Packaged and fresh juices acquired from the same region

 Bibliography:
●  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/
10.1177/1934578X0900400506 [journals.sagepub.com]
● https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
341990574_Evaluation_of_Ascorbic_Acid_Content_of_Fresh_Fruit_D
rinks_Packaged_Fruit_Juices_and_Drinks_in_the_Nigerian_Market
[researchgate.net]
● https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/
S0308814698001800