Narakhanti

Internal Assessment (practice)

Experiment to investigate the difference in amount of iron in hibiscus tea

when brewed in different durations
Research question
How does duration of brewing (10s, 25s, 40s, 55s, 70s) affect the amount of iron in hibiscus tea, as
determined by titration using potassium permanganate?

Introduction
Tea plays a significant part in Asian cultures and it is known for its health benefits all of over the
world. Hibiscus tea is made from dried calyces of the hibiscus flower (Hibiscus sabdariffa). It is rich
in vitamin C and minerals, especially iron, which plays important part in oxygen transport in the
body, providing oxygen for different organ systems through its role in red blood cell production.
However, there has been a debate whether consuming too much hibiscus tea is hazardous due to
the high contents of iron. In a single cup of hibiscus tea, about 20 mg of iron can be found, which is
2 mg more than what an average woman needs daily. Overdosing on iron might lead to iron
poisoning which initially would cause stomaches, nausea, and vomiting but can lead to
accumulation of excess iron in internal organs, which may cause fatal damage to the liver and the
brain, in the long term.
Hibiscus tea can be served both hot and cold. Serving cold hibiscus tea would only require a short
brewing time before adding in ice to cool it, as compared to a hot one which lead me to my
research question on whether brewing time would have an affect on the iron content in hibiscus
tea. This knowledge would allow tea drinkers to adjust their methods of preparing hibiscus tea in
accordance to their need of iron.
Determination of the concentration of iron within the tea solution is done by titrating it against a
standardised potassium permanganate (KMnO4) solution.
The redox reaction takes place as shown below:
MnO4- (aq) + 5Fe2+ (aq) + 8H+ (aq) > Mn2+ (aq) + 5Fe3+ (aq) + 4H2O (l)
Iron(II) ions are pale green in solution, which would be oxidised in manganate ions to Fe(II), which
are yellow in colour. Adding permanganate to a solution that contains iron would give a pink
colour and the end point would be when a permanent colour is achieved. Hibiscus tea when
brewed is reddish in colour. Adding the permanganate to hibiscus tea would turn it into a
yellowish colour int he beginning and would eventually turn into a permanent brown colour, this
brown colour is the end point.
My hypothesis is the concentration of iron would increase as brewing duration increases as there
will be more time for the dried tea to be made into a solution, therefore increasing the
concentration of the tea itself, leading to a higher concentration of iron. A short brewing time
would not suffice and not all the content would be absorbed and released into the water. This is
also supported by a study on the effects of temperature on caffein content on tea which showed
that as the tea was brewed in a higher temperature for a longer period of time, there was a higher
caffein content.

Internal Assessment (practice)

Narakhanti
Variables
Variable

Measurement

Method

Independent

duration of brewing

in seconds (10s,
25s, 40s, 55s,
70s)

start the time when the first air

bubble reach surface of water,
when it reaches the specific
duration, take the tea bag out of the
water

Dependent

mass of iron in each

sample

mass of Fe2+
ions in grams

Stoichiometric calculations by
using the amount of KMnO4
needed in each titration.

Controlled

brand of hibiscus tea

Teekanne:
Reship &
Hibiscus
Flowers

The same brand of tea was used for

all trials.

amount of water used to

brew the tea

200 ( 50) ml

200 cm3 was measured out by a

beaker for each trial

temperature of water
when the teabag is first
put in

100 degrees C

teabag was first put in right after

the first air bubble reaches the
surface of the water, which
indicates boiling

concentration of KMnO4
used in titrations

0.15M

2.41g of solid potassium

permanganate was measured using
a weighing boat on a electronic
balance. It is then made into a
solution by adding it into a beaker
and adding 100cm3 of distilled
water and then stirred using a glass
rod until dissolved.

Method
Apparatus list
electronic scale ( 0.005 g)
weighing boat
100 ml volumetric flask ( 0.25 cm3)
15 packets of hibiscus tea
200 ml glass beaker ( 10 cm3)
50 cm3 burette ( 0.03 cm3)
burette stand
burette clamp

glass rod
spatula
funnel
heat mat
tripod stand
gas source
lighter
4.82g of solid potassium permanganate
wire gauze

Step-by-step method
I. Making the potassium permanganate (VII) 0.15M solution
1. Using stoichiometry, calculate the mass of KMnO4 needed to make a 0.15M solution.
2. Measure 2.41g of KMnO4 using a weighing boat: Calibrate the electronic scale to zero and
measure out the powder using a spatula.
3. Transfer the powder into a 100cm3 volumetric flask using a plastic funnel.

Narakhanti

Internal Assessment (practice)

4. Fill volumetric flask using distilled water until the mark.

5. Close the volumetric flask with the stopper and shake it until the powder has dissolved.
6. Repeat steps 1-6 if more standardised solution of 0.15M is needed. Label each volumetric
flask with the concentration.
II. Brewing the hibiscus tea
1. Fill the 200 cm3 glass beaker with water.
2. On the tripod stand, place beaker below a metal mesh. Turn on gas and start the flame by
using a flame starter.
3. Once the first air bubble reaches at the surface of water, the water has start to boil.
Immediately dip the tea bag inside the water and start the timer.
4. Remove the tea bag from water once timer has shown the wanted duration.
5. Stop and reset the timer, continue to do this for each trial.
III. Determining the amount of iron in hibiscus tea at different durations
1. Fill burette with the standardised 0.15M potassium permanganate from the volumetric flask
using a plastic funnel. Ensure that the burette is closed.
2. Placing the brewed tea in the glass beaker below the burette. Take note of the starting point
of the potassium permanganate.
3. Add the permanganate solution by slowly opening the burette tap. The end point is
reached when a permanent dark brown solution is created. Record the end point.
4. Repeat titration for each brewing duration with 3 trials each.
Safety and ethical precautions:
1. High temperatures would be used to boil the water and brew the tea so safety measures should
be taken by using a wet cloth or a rubber glove to touch any part of the set up. Any air
conditioning or fan in the room that can possibly move the flame should be switched off to
reduce the potential of it catching fire.
2. Potassium permanganate in high concentrations can irritate skin when contact is made and
cause intestinal distress when consumed in high concentrations. Wear goggles to avoid eye
irritation and be cautious when handling solid potassium permanganate use a spatula to
measure mass.
3. Waste of tea each trial needs to start with a new teabag to ensure the fairness of the
experiment. Using a teabags for 10-70s and then throwing it away is a waste of food and
nutrition.

Internal Assessment (practice)

Narakhanti
Raw data

Table to show raw data: starting and ending point of each titration, all three trials for each time
interval (10, 25, 40, 55, and 70 s):
Time (s)

Trial

Initial burette reading

( 0.03 cm3)

Final burette reading

( 0.03 cm3)

10

0.5

2.8

11.3

12.3

35.0

37.6

10.4

13.8

2.8

4.8

12.3

15.0

13.8

18.5

37.6

42.2

15.0

18.3

4.1

10.4

18.5

26.0

42.3

47.6

4.9

11.3

24.6

35.0

18.5

26.0

25

40

55

70

Volume of water used to brew the hibiscus tea: 200 50 cm3

Mass of dried tea in each sachet: 30.0 g
Concentration of KMnO4: 0.15M
Qualitative observations:
1. There was a small amount of potassium permanganate powder left on the weighing boat.
2. There was a build of of potassium permanganate on the bottom of the volumetric flask.
3. Brewing of tea was inconsistent as sometimes tea bag would be left unmoved when it is put in
but other times would be moved up and down. Despite the same duration, this different
treatment affected the colour of the tea (the more moved, the darker the colour).
4. During the titration, the colour of the tea would first turn to a yellow solution after a while and
afterwards, it would turn into a dark brown. When stirred, it would go back to the yellow
solution. The end time is determined when stirring no longer affected the colour of the brew.
5. On a few occasions the tap was turned too much and too much potassium permanganate
solution was used as stirring immediately no effect not the colour.

Internal Assessment (practice)

Narakhanti
Processed data

1. Concentration of potassium permanganate standard solution

Moles of KMnO4
c (KMnO4) = moles x volume
= mass / molar mass
= 0.015249 0.0005 moles x 100 10 cm3
-1
= 2.41 0.0005g / 158.034 gmol
= 0.15 10.0005 M
= 0.015249 0.0005 moles
2. Mass of Fe2+ in brewed tea (iron solution)
A. Average amount of KMnO4 used in titration
Table to show processed data of the the amount of potassium permanganate is required to reach
end point for each trial and the average for each time interval:
Time (s)

Trial

Initial burette
reading
( 0.03 cm3)

Final burette
reading
( 0.03 cm3)

Amount of KMnO4
used
( 0.06 cm3)

Average volume
of KMnO4 used
( 0.18 cm3)

10

0.5

2.8

2.3

1.97

11.3

12.3

1.0

35.0

37.6

2.6

10.4

13.8

3.4

2.8

4.8

2.0

12.3

15.0

2.7

13.8

18.5

4.7

37.6

42.2

4.6

15.0

18.3

3.3

4.1

10.4

6.3

18.5

26.0

7.5

42.3

47.6

5.3

4.9

11.3

6.4

24.6

35.0

10.4

18.5

26.0

7.5

25

40

55

70

Example calculation:
Amount of KMnO4 used (time: 10s: trial 1)
= end point - starting point
= 2.8 0.03 - 0.5 0.03
= 2.3 0.06 cm3
Average % uncertainty
= 0.18/1.97 * 100

= 9.14 %

2.70

4.20

6.37

8.10

Average of KMnO4 used (time: 10s)

= (amount of KMnO4 used in trial 1 + trial 2 +
trial 3) / 3
= (2.3 0.06 + 1.0 0.06 + 2.6 0.03) / 3
= 1.97 0.18 cm3

Internal Assessment (practice)

Narakhanti

B. Mass of Fe2+ in solution

Table to show processed data of average volume of KMnO4 used in titration, concentration of
KMnO4 used in titration, moles of Fe2+ in solution, and mass of Fe2+ in solution in each sample of
tea brewed in different durations (10s, 25s, 40s, 55s, 70s):
Brewing
duration

Average
volume of
KMnO4 used
( 0.00018 dm3)

Moles Molar
of
mass of
KMnO4 KMnO4
(gmol-1)

Concentration
of KMnO4 used
in titration
( 0.18g)

Moles of Fe2+ in
solution
( 0.1825 M)

Mass of Fe2+
in solution
( 0.1825g)

10s

0.00197

0.15

158.034

0.0002955

0.0002955

0.016503675

25s

0.00270

0.15

158.034

0.00041

0.00041

0.02262

40s

0.00420

0.15

158.034

0.00063

0.00063

0.03519

55s

0.00647

0.15

158.034

0.0009705

0.0009705

0.054202425

70s

0.00810

0.15

158.034

0.00122

0.00122

0.06786

Example calculation (10s)

Titration reaction: MnO4- (aq) + 5Fe2+ (aq) + 8H+ (aq) > Mn2+ (aq) + 5Fe3+ (aq) + 4H2O (l)
Ratio of MnO4- to Fe2+ (aq) = 1:5
i) Concentration of KMnO4 used in titration
concentration = moles x volume
c(KMnO4) = n(KMnO4) x average volume of KMnO4 used
c(KMnO4) = 0.15M x 1.97/1000 0.18
c(KMnO4) = 0.0002955 0.18moles
c(KMnO4) = 2.95 x 10-4 0.18 moles
ii) Moles of Fe2+ in solution
moles = concentration x ratio / volume of solution
n(Fe) = n(KMnO4) x 1/5 / 0.2 25 dm3
n(Fe) = 2.95 x 10-4 0.18 moles x 0.2 / 0.2 0.0025 dm3
n(Fe) = 0.0002955M
n(Fe) = 2.30 x 10-4 0.1825 M
iii) Mass of Fe2+ in solution
mass = moles x molar mass
m(Fe) = n(Fe) x 55.85 gmol-1
m(Fe) = 2.30 x 10-4 0.1825 x 55.85 gmol-1
m(Fe) = 0.016503675 0.1825 g
m(Fe) = 1.65 x 10-2 0.1825 g
Table to show end results of each brewing time and mass of its respective iron content:
Brewing duration (s)

Amount of iron (g)

10s

1.65 x 10-2

25s

2.26 x 10-2

40s

3.51 x 10-2

55s

5.42 x 10-2

70s

6.79 x 10-1

Internal Assessment (practice)

Narakhanti

Graph to show relationship between brewing time and mass of iron in each brewed sample:

70

mass of Fe (x 10^-3 g)

52.5

35

17.5

0
10

25

40

55

70

brewing duration (s)

The graph above shows that there is a positive relationship between brewing duration and mass of
iron in each brewed tea. The longer the tea is brewed for, the more iron ions there are in each tea
sample.

Conclusion
From this experiment, it is evident that the longer a tea is brewed, the higher the concentration of
iron, and therefore the higher the mass of iron ions. This supports my hypothesis. The positive
correlation is probably caused by the duration of the brewing rather than the temperature as the
temperature is constant during boiling point. The longer the brewing duration, the more highly
concentrated the tea is, which means there is a higher concentration of the minerals and other
components of the tea - including iron.
From this experiment, since the safety limit for the consumption of iron in women is 18 mg (0.02g),
it can be concluded that it is safe to consume hibiscus tea as it still lies in the recommended limit.
This experiment was done by brewing 100cm3 of water whilst the recommended volume is 250cm3,
which means even brewing the tea for less than 55 seconds.
However, when brewed for 70s, the amount of iron exceeds the recommended limit for women (27
mg), but it can be assumed that this is due to the inaccuracy of the experiment as there can be other
components of the tea that might affect the titration and lead to the higher results. I think the
results are higher than what it is supposed to be as it is stated that in a cup of hibiscus tea, there is
about 20 mg of iron whilst in the last time interval, there was 7mg more.
In order to avoid iron overdose, one should not consume hibiscus tea every day and should serve
it cold in order to avoid the high iron content and have a shorter brewing time.

Internal Assessment (practice)

Narakhanti
Evaluation
1. Weaknesses
Limitation

Significance

Improvement

Accuracy of standard
potassium
permanganate solution

Large - it would have an effect

on the titre which would alter
the results. A lower
concentration of the solution
would increase the volume
required to reach the end
point of titration, in this case it
would lead to higher mass of
iron

Ensure all of the solid potassium

permanganate was transferred to the
volumetric flask by firstly diluting it
with distilled water, and then
transferring it to the volumetric flask,
repeatedly rinsing the weighing boat
and beaker with distilled water to
ensure that there is no left over.

Accuracy of equipment
used

Medium - an inaccuracy in
Use a more accurate equipment. Use a
measurement would lead to to volumetric flask or a burette instead
a larger percentage error
of a measuring cylinder and a beaker.

Number of trials

Medium - 3 trials would not

suffice, especially with the
relatively large range in
results.

Work more effectively to allow more

time for trials by using a lower
volume of water so that it would take
less time to reach boiling point.
Do more repeats until at least 3 of the
data have a small margin.

Human error:
determination of the
titration end point and
reaction time

Medium - difference in
opinion of where the end
point is would lead to
different results but

Have more than one person doing the

experiment to ensure the accuracy of
the end point and get better results

Systematic error:
brewing of tea

Large - during one of the

Be consistent with the brewing of tea
trials, the tea bag was moved just leave the tea bag unmoved to
up and down more than usual see a more consistent result.
(70s trial 2) and during one it
was left unmoved (10s trial 2),
and the results shown a
significance difference in the
volume of KMnO4 needed in
the titration.

2. Strengths and evaluation

The procedure was straight forward and is one of the most accurate way to measure the
amount of iron in a school laboratory. It is also different in a sense that measuring the
amount of iron in hibiscus tea is uncommon.
It would be interesting to have a literature value that I can compare the results of this
experiment with. Another thing I would do is to investigate the effect of temperature of
iron content rather than the brewing time. If there was more information on the contents of
tea and its percentage, to see whether there is anything else affecting the titration other
than iron.

Narakhanti

Internal Assessment (practice)

Bibliography
1. Determination of iron (II) by permanganate titration. Titrationsinfo. 2016. Available at:
http://www.titrations.info/permanganate-titration-iron. Accessed November 13, 2016.
2. Hemoglobin and Functions of Iron. UCSF Medical Center. 2016. Available at: https://
www.ucsfhealth.org/education/hemoglobin_and_functions_of_iron/.
Accessed
November 13, 2016.
3. Iron overdose: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. Medlineplusgov. 2016. Available at:
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002659.htm. Accessed November 13, 2016.
4. Health Benefits of Hibiscus Tea. Organic Facts. 2016. Available at: https://
www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/beverage/hibiscus-tea.html. Accessed November
13, 2016.
5. Yang Dye-Hwang L. Effects of different steeping methods and storage on caffeine,
catechins and gallic acid in bag tea infusions. Journal of Chromatography A.
2007;1156(1-2):312-320.