Activity 1.21 Is high C all it claims to be?

Purpose:

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A1.21L CORE

To investigate the vitamin C content of fruit juice

The activity sheet presents a case that appeared in the news and this could be used to put the practical work in context. The students might investigate the vitamin C content of a range of different juices to determine which contain the highest level of the vitamin. To link more directly with the story on the activity sheet, students could test the vitamin C levels in the juice and compare the level with the quantity stated on the product. Note that the Edexcel GCE Biology specification requires you to know how to investigate the vitamin C content of food and drink. To test food, you have to mash it up with water and then carry out the test as for drinks.

Title: Investigating the vitamin C content of fruit juices Aim

To find out which of a range of different juices contains the most vitamin C, and calculate the percentage of vitamin C in each fruit juice.

Method
Use the Procedure below to record the method YOU used, in detail, including safety precautions taken, equipment used and reasons for your choice of equipment.

Procedure
You will need

0.1% DCPIP solution 1% vitamin C solution A range of fruit juices Test tubes Pipette to accurately measure 1cm3 Pipette or burette 1. Pipette 1 cm3 of 1% DCPIP solution into a test tube. 2. Using a pipette or burette, add 1% vitamin C solution drop by drop to the DCPIP solution. After adding each drop shake the tube gently. Continue to add drops of the vitamin C solution until the blue colour of the DCPIP has just disappeared. 3. Record the exact amount of the vitamin C solution that was added to decolourise the DCPIP solution. Repeat the procedure and average the result. 4. Repeat this procedure with the other fruit juices provided. If only one or two drops of the fruit juice decolourises the DCPIP, you could dilute the juice and repeat the test.

Activity 1.21 Is high C all it claims to be? Results

Record your results in a table. A sample table and results are shown below.
Sample results
Juice tested 1% vitamin C Grapefruit juice Pineapple juice Orange juice Orange drink Fresh lemon juice Bottled lemon juice Volume of juice required to decolourise 1 cm3 of 0.1% DCPIP solution/cm3 0.61 1.50 12.00 2.00 1.40 1.90 24.0 0.59 1.70 11.20 2.25 1.50 1.70 23.5 0.60 1.65 11.50 2.10 1.45 1.60 24.5

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A1.21L CORE

Average of juice required /cm3 0.60 1.61 11.56 2.12 1.45 1.73 24.0

Vitamin C content of juice/mg cm3 10.0 3.8 0.5 2.8 4.1 3.5 0.25

The table gives the volume of various carton fruit juices that decolourised 1 cm3 of 0.1% DCPIP solution. The end point was when the blue tinge has completely disappeared. 0.6 cm3 of 1% vitamin C solution decolourised 1 cm3 of 0.1% DCPIP solution. 1 cm3 of the 1% vitamin C contains 10 mg of vitamin C so it takes 6 mg of vitamin C to decolourise 1 cm3 of DCPIP.

Conclusions
Use your results and the information above to work out how much vitamin C each of your fruit juices contained, in mg cm3. Discuss your findings and those shown in the sample results table with reference to your aim. Support your statements with evidence from your results, and relevant biological knowledge. Comment on any systematic or random errors in the data.

Evaluation
Propose any changes to the procedure that would improve the reliability and validity of the results.