Butterfly pea flower tea

Organic Chemistry-Lab Practice

Students. De La Rosa Gómez Yannel, Hernández Martínez Karimen Lisseth, Maxil Hernández Ireri,
Olivares Jiménez Keila, Salazar Mendieta Naomi and Tlahuizo Baños Joshua Anuar

Introduction
Butterfly pea flower tea (Clitoria ternatea) is an herbal drink made from flowers of the plant previous named, also
called 'butterfly flower' or 'butterfly pea'. This plant is native from Asia and is cultivated in many tropical and
subtropical regions of the world. The tea from this plant is obtained by means of an infusion. Its characteristic colour
is due to the natural pigments present in the flowers of Clitoria ternatea, known as anthocyanins (potential
pharmaceutical ingidients that posses antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anti-obesity
effects). The tea is said to have relaxing and refreshing properties.

Ether

Cyclo

O Alcohol

Butterfly pea flower tea changes colour when lemon or other acidic substances are added due to the presence of
anthocyanins in the flower. Anthocyanins are chemical compounds that can react with the pH(A measure of the degree
of acidity or alkalinity of a substance or solution. The pH is measured on a scale from 0 to 14. On this scale, a pH value
of 7 is neutral, meaning that the substance or solution is neither acidic nor alkaline. A pH value of less than 7 means
that it is more acidic, and a pH value of more than 7 means that it is more alkaline) of the medium in which they are
found, resulting in a change in colour. Anthocyanins are pH sensitive and can change colour depending on their acidity
or alkalinity. In an acidic environment, anthocyanins can turn pink or purple. Therefore, when lemon is added to tea,
the pH decreases, causing a change in the molecular structure of the anthocyanins and, as a result, a change in colour.

Materials
• Blue Butterfly Pea Flower Tea
• Half lemon (The most abundant chemical compounds in lemon juice are: citric acid (𝑪𝟔 𝑯𝟖 𝑶𝟕 )
, vitamin C, glucose, fructose, sucrose, phenolic compounds (excluding water))
 • Commercial ammonia for domestic use-2-3ml (aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide,𝑁𝐻4 𝑂𝐻 with 5
to 10% concentration). An alternative is sodium bicarbonate (sodium hydrogen carbonate,𝑁𝑎𝐻𝐶𝑂3 )
• Water-20ml (𝑯𝟐 𝑶)
• Stirring rod
• Three test tubes
• Three small containers
• Water boiler
• Dropper
Spoon (if sodium hydrogen carbonate is used)

Procedure
1. Brew butterfly pea flower tea and let it cool to room temperature. This should be done at the beginning of
the practice.
2. Cut a lemon in half and squeeze one-half of the lemon into a glass.
3. Pour a quantity of 2-3 ml of commercial household ammonia (if this base is used) into a glass.
4. Place approximately 20 ml of the infusion at room temperature in each of the three test tubes.
5. Using a dropper, add three or four drops of lemon juice to one of the test tubes and another three or four
of ammonia(ph=11-12) to the other. Alternatively, instead of ammonia, a spoonful of baking soda(ph=8-9)
can be added to the second test tube.
6. Leave the third test tube empty to notice the changes.
7. Gently shake the first and second test tube to homogenize the mixtures.

Results
As a result, we obtain color changes that occur when we add an acid and a base to a pleasant or medicinal drink (this
solution can be prepared by boiling or pouring into very hot water). When the lemon juice solution is added the color
changes from blue to violet but if we add ammonia, it turns green. This happens because this drink contains molecules
called anthocyanins, this means that they can alter the length of a light wave that it absorbs but also affects the color
change, of course also depending on its pH. Lemon juice contains citric acid so adding it to tea would make it more
acidic, but we can add a softer base such as ammonia which reduces the amount of hydrogen ions which produces
less acidity.

• After adding ammonia.

• After adding lemon juice.

• Normal Tea.
Conclusions
The chemistry involved in the process is quite complex but, in summary, gallic acid reacts with iron(III) ions to form
ferric pyrogallate, a black insoluble complex ion.
This activity can be used as a starting point to discuss how transition metal complexes form (type of bond involved,
what the ligands are, and how pH changes affect their formation).complex of gallic acid with iron(III), with two water
molecules acting as co-ligands to complete the octahedral coordination sphere