Vitamin C Content

in Commercial Orange Juice of

Different Brands
Group members:
Sarah Lee
Crystal Tan Hui Yee
Nurul Elyana
Melissa Fong

To determine the Vitamin C content in
four different brands of commercial orange juices,
Marigold :21.50mg (0.09%),
Sunkist; 13.59mg (0.05%)
Tropicana Twister; 7.40vitamin C mg (0.03%)
Fresh & Squeeze; 4.22mg (0.02%).

We concluded that different brands of
orange juices have different content of
vitamin C!

Introduction and background


Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is an organic
compound with molecular formula
C
6
H
8
O
6
.
In the manufacturing process, additional
ascorbic acid is often added to restore
nutrient losses during processing and
packaging.
As an antioxidant, ascorbic acid improve
the colour and palatability of many kinds
of food products.

















The vitamin C content in
different brands of
commercial orange juices
can be determined by
titration

The iodate ions are reduced to form iodine:
IO
3

+ 6H
+
+ 5e I
2
+ 3H
2
O


The iodide ions are oxidised to form iodine:
2 I

I
2
+ 2e
-



Reaction between iodate and iodide ions:
IO
3

+ 5I

+ 6H
+
3I
2
+ 3H
2
O


Iodine is reduced to iodide ions:
C
6
H
8
O
6
+ I
2
+ 2H
2
O ---> C
6
H
10
O
8
+ 2I
-
+ 2H
+
-



Potassium iodate is titrated against a solution
containing Vitamin C and potassium iodide


Iodine is prepared in-situ:
Iodine oxidises the ascorbic acid to dehydroascorbic acid:
IO
3

+ 5I

+ 6H
+
3I
2
+ 3H
2
O Equation 1


C
6
H
8
O
6
+ I
2
+ 2H
2
O ---> C
6
H
10
O
8
+ 2I
-
+ 2H
+
- Equation 2

Using Equation 1, the moles of iodine formed:
1 mol iodate: 3 mol iodine

Using Equation 2, the moles of vitamin C from the amount of I
2

produced:
3 mol iodine: 3 mol Vitamin C
1 mol iodine: 1 mol Vitamin C



Mass of ascorbic acid per 25ml juice = x mg

% of Vitamin C= _____g/25ml x 100% = _____%


Molar mass of ascorbic acid, C
6
H
8
O
6 =
176 g/mol


Calculations
Literature review

Nagra S., Auckland
University of Technology
(2006):

Two methods were
adopted for determining
ascorbic acid. The liquid
chromatography was less
successful than the simpler
titrimetric method.






D. Massaioli, P.R. Haddad
(1981) :

Ascorbic acid content
was found to decrease
slightly during storage,
with the loss of ascorbic
acid dependent on the
handling method use.

Problem statement
What is the vitamin C content in
commercial orange juice
of different brands?

Objectives
.




To determine the Vitamin C content in
four brands of commercial orange juices which
are Marigold, Sunkist, Tropicana Twister and Fresh
N Squeeze by iodometric titration.
To compare the vitamin C content among the four
different brands of orange juices.
To promote awareness on consumer products and
healthy living.
.

Methodology, Apparatus &
materials


50ml burette,
20ml pipette,
100ml measuring cylinders,
retort stand and clamp,
250ml conical flasks,
100ml beakers,
filter funnel,
electronic balance

Orange juices of 3-4 brands,
0.001M potassium iodate solution
1.0 g potassium iodide,
starch indicator solution,
1.0M hydrochloric acid
Procedure:
Strain the pulp in the juice
Conical flask: Pipette 25ml of juice .
Add 1g KI, 5ml HCl, 2-3ml starch solution
Burette: Fill with potassium iodate solution.
Record the initial burette reading
Titrate potassium iodate with the solution in the flask.
Swirl gently.
Calculate the amount of Vitamin C.
Record the results in a table
Stop titrating when theres noticeable colour change.
Record the final burette reading.
Repeat to obtain average volume.
Repeat with the other 3 juices
Results,
Observations &
Discussion
Type of Orange
Juice
Initial
Reading(cm
3)

Average
Reading(cm
3

Average volume
of KIO
3
added
(cm
3
)

Marigold 0.00 41.00 41.00
Fresh & Squeeze 0.00 8.25 8.25
Sunkist 0.00 25.93 25.93
Tropicana 0.00 14.10 14.10
Burette reading for the different brands of Orange Juice
Observations & Discussions
Before endpoint, the colour of the solution was the
bright yellow colour of fresh orange juice.

Upon addition of potassium iodate, streaks of blue-black
colour where formed, but the colour disappeared quickly upon
swirling.
Explanation: The iodine (I
2
) formed in the conical flask is
still reacting with the ascorbic acid present in a 1:1 ratio.

At the titration endpoint, any excess iodate added
produced iodine which reacted with starch to form a
dark starch-iodine complex that persisted.

Observations & Discussions
As the sample fruit juice is coloured, the colour change
visible was from yellow to brown-grey.
Hence, the intensity of the sample solution used affected
the accuracy in the determination of the endpoint.

When 1-2ml more of iodate solution was added after the
endpoint was overshot, the dark blue complex became
more obvious. This was taken as the rough readings.

Rough titration was carried out to determine
how much titrant (potassium iodate) was needed,
so that the titration process of multiple samples could be
sped up.
Rough titration also helped to recognise the colour
change that occur at the endpoint.








IO
3

+ 5I

+ 6H
+
3I
2
+ 3H
2
O Equation 1


C
6
H
8
O
6
+ I
2
+ 2H
2
O ---> C
6
H
10
O
8
+ 2I
-
+ 2H
+
- Equation 2

Volume of KIO
3
from burette used = 40.67cm
3

M =mol/dm
3

0.001M = moles of KIO
3
/4.067x10
-2
dm
3

Moles of KIO
3
= 4.067 x 10
-5
mol

Using Equation 1, the moles of iodine formed:
4.067 x 10
-5
moles of KIO
3
x 3moles I
2
/I mole KIO
3
= 1.2201 x 10
-4
moles I
2


Using Equation 2, the moles of vitamin C produced:
1.2201 x 10
-4
moles I
2
x 1 mole Vitamin C/1mole I
2
= 1.2201 x 10
-4
moles of Vitamin C

Molar mass of ascorbic acid, C
6
H
8
O
6
=176g/mol

Mass of ascorbic acid per 25ml juice = 1.2201 x 10
-4
x 176 = 0.0215g = 21.50mg
% of Vitamin C= 0.0215g/25ml x 100% = 0.09%
Results: Calculation
Table 1: Average volume of KIO
3
reacted (cm
3
),
mass of ascorbic acid per 25ml juice (mg),
percentage of Vitamin C (%)



Brand Average
volume of
KIO3
reacted
(cm3)
Mass of
ascorbic acid
per 25ml juice
(mg)
Percentage of
Vitamin C in 25ml
juice (%)
Marigold 40.67 21.50 0.09
Fresh & Squeeze 8.00 4.22 0.02
Sunkist 25.73 13.59 0.05
Tropicana Twister 13.80 7.40 0.03
Marigold has the highest amount of Vitamin C with 21.50mg
(0.09%), followed by Sunkist; 13.59mg (0.05%), Tropicana
Twister; 7.40mg (0.03%) and lastly, Fresh N Squeeze; 4.22mg
(0.02%).
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
Marigold
Fresh N
Squeeze
Sunkist
Tropicana
Twister
0.09
0.02
0.05
0.03
Percentage of Vitamin C
G
R
A
P
H

P
E
R
C
E
N
T
A
G
E
O
F

V
I
T
A
M
I
N

C
Based on these results, the Vitamin C contents in Marigold
Peel Fresh, Sunkist, Tropicana Twister and Fresh N Squeeze
are sufficient to meet the daily requirements which is 70mg
of vitamin C per day for men and women above the age of 19
(Ministry of Health of Malaysia, 2005).
However, consumers of brands with low Vitamin C content
will have to take bigger and more frequent servings of the
juice compared to consumers of brands with high Vitamin C
content.
Conclusion
From our experiment, we determined the Vitamin C content
in four brands of commercial orange juices: Marigold Peel
Fresh, Sunkist, Tropicana Twister and Fresh & Squeeze.

Marigold had the most Vitamin C while Fresh N Squeeze
had the least.

Future experiments could be carried out by the back-
titration of excess iodine (I
2
) with thiosulphate (S
2
O
3
-
). The
endpoint of titration is the disappearance of the blue-black
colour which is easier to identify.


Reference
Higdon, Jane. (January 31 12, 2006); Vitamin C; Linus Pauling
Institute-Oregon State University
Recommended Nutrient Intakes for Malaysia, (2005). National
Coordinating Committee on Food and Nutrition (NCCFN),
Ministry of Health Malaysia
http://www.mratcliffe.com/images/vcb.pdf ; accessed on
18/8/2013
http://www.livestrong.com/article/424994-vitamin-c-dosage-per-
day/ ; accessed on 18/8/2013


Y
O
U