12 IBCP-2

Internal Assessment

Darren Boesono

Subject:

Chemistry

Topic:

Comparative analysis on the Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) content contained in food-derived

vitamin C via fruits and vegetables and synthetic Vitamin C via supplements.

Research Question?

How does the Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) content differ in both natural or food derived
Vitamin C and supplemented or synthetic Vitamin C?

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A. INTRODUCTORY

1. Background

Vitamin C is a very well-known type of a vitamin found in numerous foods especially in a

variety of fruits and vegetables. In most cases, Vitamin C are sold as nutritive supplements to
consumers who are in need of them for a range of health benefits. Vitamin C in general is used to
prevent and treat the disease called scurvy. Scurvy is a disease that results from the absence of
the Vitamin C content in one’s body. The symptoms of this disease include weakness, the
feeling of tiredness and exhaustion and the soreness that occur in various body parts
especially around the arms and the legs of one’s body. Without extensive treatment, the
symptoms can lead to decreased red blood cells, gum disease, the changes to hair, major bleeding
from the skin may and could occur, poor wound healing, personality changes, and finally could
lead to death from infection or bleeding. Vitamin C is a vital part of nutrition which is highly
involved in the repair of tissue and enzymatic production of certain neurotransmitters. It is
highly required for the operating of most enzymes and is ideally important for the
human’s body immune system and its immunity. Vitamin C also functions as an
antioxidant which prevents various types of damages
in the cells of an organism. Vitamin C is a
compound named as ascorbic acid or ascorbate with
a compound formula C​6​H8​ ​O6​ ​. In other words,
ascorbic acid is a natural water-soluble vitamin which
is named vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is a potent reducing
and antioxidant agent that functions in fighting
bacterial infections, in detoxifying reactions, and in
the formation of collagen in fibrous tissue, teeth,
bones, connective tissue, skin, and capillaries. This
chemical compound acid is found in citrus and other
varieties of foods and vegetables. Ascorbic acid or
vitamin C cannot be produced by itself or stored by
one’s body in contrast from numerous types of animals,
Humans should obtain ascorbic acid or vitamin C in
their daily basis of their dietary regime. However there also types of vitamin C that differ
themselves from one another, there are vitamin C that are contained in citrus and other types of
fruits and vegetables with its own natural nutrient and mineral content. Food and vegetables that
contain a lot of vitamin C content are oranges, green peppers, watermelon, broccoli, tomatoes,
berries, cabbage and many more. However there are some types of vitamin C that are

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human made in the lab or it is being made synthetically made in the lab via supplemented
chemical products. It all comes down into two different forms, which are L-ascorbic acid and
D-ascorbic acid. The L variety can be dissolved in both natural that can be found in both natural
(found in varieties of foods and vegetables and also whole food multivitamins) and in synthetic
forms which are found in most other supplements and multivitamins, and is compatible with
vitamin C and consists of all its health advantages, while the Dvariety contains similarity in its
antioxidant properties but differ from the vitamin C content of Land it is not implemented in any
multivitamins supplements.

In this further investigation, an experiment will be conducted to analyze the vitamin C

(Ascorbic acid) content in food-derived vitamin C or natural vitamin C found in various fruits
and vegetables and in synthetically made or lab made vitamin C that can be found in a number
of variety supplemented multivitamins. Prior to this investigation, we will be focusing and
analyzing the correlation and trend of the concentration of vitamin C in both natural and
synthetic vitamin C (ascorbic acid).

2. ​Research Question

● How does the Vitamin C (​ascorbic acid) content differ in both natural or food derived
Vitamin C and in supplemented or synthetic Vitamin C?

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3. Hypothesis

● The vitamin C content and concentration in the supplemented vitamin C multivitamins

will be higher than the vitamin C found in a variety of fruits and vegetables (natural or
food derived vitamin C).

B. METHODOLOGY

1. Variables

➢ Independent Variables:

● Content of vitamin C in each sources of vitamin C

● Orange, Grapefruit, and Lemon (natural and food-derived vitamin C)
● Nutrivit® C, Vasco, Cecon, and Ascobex (synthetic and supplemented vitamin C)

➢ Dependant Variables:

● Concentration of vitamin C (mg/100 mL)

➢ Controlled Variables

Variables How is it being controlled? Why?

The conditions of the fruits Buy the fruits from a verified To gain more accurate results
(natural and food-derived supermarket for its fresh throughout the entire
vitamin C) condition. Handpick the fruits investigation due to the
to determine its condition, similar amount of vitamin C
make sure to pick the fresh that these fruits with the same
ones, and apply the same conditions
standard colouration for each
fruit.

The conditions and Buy the vitamin C To gain more accurate results
specifications of the Vitamin supplements from a verified throughout the entire
C supplements (synthetic and drug store or pharmacy store investigation. The
supplemented vitamin C) according to the specification supplemented vitamin should
required in this investigation. contain mostly ascorbic acid
according to its specification.

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Room temperature (25℃) The air-conditioner in the The concentration of vitamin

laboratory is set to 25℃ by C is highly dependent on
the time the experiment is temperature because heat can
near conducted. reduce the amount of vitamin
C in a substance.

Amount of solutions for each Extract the solution for each To gain a higher-level of
food-derived vitamin C sample by measuring it to 100 accuracy in terms of its
sample ml by using a measuring results. Different amounts of
cylinder. solutions in each sample
might lead to inaccurate
results recorded.

Amount of solutions for each Extract the solution for each To gain a higher-level of
supplemented or sample by measuring it to 100 accuracy in terms of its
synthetic-made vitamin C ml by using a measuring results. Different amounts of
sample cylinder. solutions in each sample
might lead to inaccurate
results recorded.

2. Materials and Apparatus

Materials Quantity

Beaker 100 ml 5 for each solution

Fruit Presser 1

Strainer 1

Beaker 500 ml 1

Stirring rod 1

Pipette 1

Beaker 250 ml 1 for each solution

Measuring Cylinder 50 ml 1

Burette 50 nl

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Stand 1

Phenolphthalein 5 ml

NaOH solution 0.01 mol 500 ml

Food-derived vitamin C sources (Lemon, 3 for each type of fruit

Orange, Grapefruit)

Synthetic or supplemented vitamin C sources 1 for each type of vitamin

(Nutrivit® C, Vasco, Cecon, and Ascobex)

Kitchen Utilities 1

White Cloth 1

Mortar and Pestle 1

3. Experimental Procedures

Preparation of experiment procedures

I. The air-conditioner in the laboratory is set to the room temperature (25℃) and all
materials and apparatus used for the experiment is all prepared on the experiment table.
II. All outside exposure is being shut down by closing all the windows and doors so that the
experiment can be conducted in room temperature (25℃) in the laboratory.

Preparation of food-derived vitamin C solution

I. Prepare the food-derived vitamin C sources (orange, lemon, grapefruit) and the fruit
presser needed for this experiment.
II. By using a knife from the kitchen utilities, cut all the fruits in half so it can be crushed to
produce their juices.
III. By using the fruit presser, crush the fruit that is cut in half to produce their juice in the
juice compartment of the fruit presser. Do this for every fruit.
IV. Pour the juice from the compartment to 250 ml until it is full through a strainer so that the
particles excess from the fruits are strained. Separate the 3 fruits juice in different 250 ml
beakers.
V. Pour 250 ml of distilled water to three 500 ml beakers for every type of fruit.

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VI. Pour 250 ml of different fruit juices (orange, lemon, grapefruit) to three 500 ml beakers
with 250 ml of distilled water inside it. The three 500 ml beakers are filled with 250 ml of
distilled water and with 250 ml of different fruit juices.
VII. Stir each 500 ml of mixture (distilled water and fruit juice) using a stirring rod so that the
mixture will emulsify.
VIII. Pour each 500 ml of mixture (distilled water and fruit juice) into five 100 ml beakers until
the 100 ml is reached. This is the solution used for each trial for the food-derived vitamin
C sources.

Preparation of supplemented vitamin C solution

I. By using the mortar and pestle, crush two tablets from each type of vitamin C supplement
(Nutrivit® C, Vasco, Cecon, and Ascobex) to form powder.
II. Each powder from different types of vitamin C supplement is placed in separate beakers.
III. Pour 500 ml of distilled water to four 500 ml beakers.
IV. Pour the four different types of vitamin C powder into each of the four 500 ml beakers.
V. Stir each of the 500 ml mixtures using the stirring rod.
VI. Pour each of the 500 ml mixture into five 100 ml beakers until the 100 ml mark is
reached. This is the solution needed for every trial for supplemented vitamin C.

Titration
I. Prepare all solutions (food-derived and supplemented vitamin C) that need to go through
titration in this experiment.
II. The burette is tightly clipped with the clamp in the stand.
III. 50 ml of NaOH solution is poured into the burette until the 0 ml mark is reached.
IV. A white cloth is placed below the sample solution while being titrated to indicate any
colour change.
V. Insert 3 drops of Phenolphthalein indicator into the sample solution.
VI. The sample solution is titrated by inserting drops of NaOH solution from the burette until
colour change to pink colour is visible.
VII. The volume of NaOH needed to cause colour change is recorded.
VIII. Refill the NaOH solution into the burette until the 0 ml mark is reached for the next
sample to be titrated.
IX. Repeat these procedures for all the sample solutions for every five trials.

Determination of vitamin C concentration

I. Stoichiometric calculations are conducted to calculate the concentration of vitamin C in
each sample's solutions.

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II. Formula used are as follows:

mole (mol)
Molarity ( mol
L
)= V olume (L)
mass (g)
Mole (mol) = g
M r ( mol )

C. ​DATA AND ANALYSIS

1. Data Collection

Synthetic-made Vitamin C concentration results:

# Trials Conc of Vitamin C (mg/100ml)

Nutrivit® C Vasco Cecon Ascobex

Trial 1 228.85 248.00 232.9 220.32

Trial 2 227.64 248.50 233.14 220.00

Trial 3 228.18 248.67 232.24 220.65

Trial 4 228.50 247.94 232.85 220.73

Trial 5 228.44 247.89 232.73 220.87

Standard 0.4024127234569 0.320811471116 0.29754999579902 0.31423558041699

deviation (​σ) 6

Average 228.322 248.200 232.772 220.514

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Food-derived Vitamin C concentration results:

# Trials Concentration of
vitamin C (mg/100ml)

Lemon Orange Grapefruit

Trial 1 12.681 12.788 10.900

Trial 2 12.453 12.892 10.847

Trial 3 12.698 12.700 10.824

Trial 4 12.334 12.965 10.981

Trial 5 12.586 12.753 10.901

Standard deviation 0.13887058723862 0.096042907078035 0.054231356243413

(​σ)

Average 12.5504 12.8196 10.8906

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2. Data Analysis

By observing the results of the vitamin C concentration from Table.3 and Table.4, it can
be concluded that the synthetic-made vitamin C sources contain more vitamin C content
compared to the food-derived vitamin C sources. As can be seen in Table.3, the table shows the
vitamin C concentration in four synthetic-made vitamin C sources (Nutrivit® C, Vasco, Cecon,
and Ascobex).Vasco contain the highest amount of vitamin C concentration out of all the
synthetic-made vitamin C and Ascobex contain the lowest amount of vitamin C concentration
out of all the synthetic-made vitamin C. According to Table.4, the table shows the vitamin C
concentration of the food-derived vitamin C (Orange, Grapefruit, and Lemon). Out of all the
food-derived vitamin C, oranges contain the highest amount of vitamin C concentration and
grapefruit contain the lowest amount of vitamin C concentration. The two tables are then input to
a bar chart to show the overview of the amount of vitamin C concentration in both variables. The
bar chart shows that the synthetic-made vitamin C contains more vitamin C content then the
food-derived vitamin C overall.

3. Discussion

The process of slowly adding one solution to another until the reaction between the two is
complete is titration. ​The mechanism of titration that is used to conduct this experiment is used
to determine the unknown concentration of an acid or base by neutralizing it with an acid or base
of the known concentration. Using stoichiometry calculations, the unknown concentration can be
determined. In this titration method, a phenolphthalein indicator is used because it changes color
in a pH range between 8.3-10. It will appear pink in basic solutions and clear in acidic solutions.
3 drops were inserted to all of the solutions which acts as an indicator. The concentration of
vitamin C is determined by the concentration of the sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The mass of
vitamin C content will be determined by titrating the vitamin C solution with the sodium
hydroxide solution. Phenolphthalein turns pink when excess sodium hydroxide has been added
and the reaction between the two solutions is neutralized and complete. The volume of NaOH is
then recorded to calculate the molarity of the acid. Therefore, we can determine the vitamin C
content in different solutions.

Vitamin C or Ascorbic Acid (C​6​H​8​O​6) ​is a water-soluble nutrient with many vital
functions to your body. Vitamin C helps to strengthen your immune system as a whole, it heals
collagen production and wound healing and is an antioxidant to protect our cells from radical
damages. The adult male should consume 90 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C per day and females
should consume around 75 mg per day. Regarding whether we should consume natural or
synthetic vitamin C, it all comes down to its own beneficial effects. Even though synthetic-made
vitamin C contains more vitamin C content than food-derived vitamin C, synthetic-made vitamin

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C could have some harmful side-effects to the human body. The reason being is that some
pharmaceutical companies do not check artificial systems on engineering these vitamin C
products. Therefore, consuming untrustable brand of multivitamin could lead to harmful
side-effects. On the other hand, consuming food-derived vitamin is more safe due to its natural
made. Even Though it does not contain a high concentration of vitamin C unlike the
synthetic-made vitamin C, it also has different types of vitamins and minerals stored in these
types of vitamin C sources. Another downside of consuming food-derived vitamin C is that
vitamin C is very vulnerable to heat, meaning if these types of vitamin C sources are being
cooked, it goes through a thermal process which can significantly reduce the vitamin C content
in it.
4. Conclusion

From the results recorded, it can be deduced that synthetic-made vitamin C in the form of
supplements contains more vitamin C concentration then the food-derived vitamin C in the form
of citrus-fruits. The data recorded shows a significant difference in terms of its vitamin C
concentration between the synthetic-made vitamin C sources and the food-derived vitamin C
sources. The data recorded in each solution shows a close correlation between each trials, this
can be proven through the standard deviation recorded, meaning the results were very accurate.

5. Limitation and improvement

Limitations Improvements

During the titration process, recording the To achieve a constant colour change in the
exact volume of NaOH to neutralize the neutralization to reach its equilibrium state,
solution is quite difficult, as it is very gently stir the solution that is being titrated
challenging to achieve constant colour change drop by drop of the indicator and wait for a
to pink from colourless (using few seconds to achieve accurate results.
phenolphthalein as an indicator)

More trials should be added to achieve Conduct more trials in each sample solution
accuracy of the data in this investigation. to show the accuracy and the correlation
through the standard deviation of the data
recorded.

The food-derived vitamin C source solution Add more distilled water to the solution until
might not be colourless due to much excess near colourless, so the titration process can
juice in each sample solution. carry out more efficiently in terms of its
colour changes.

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D. ​BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Tareen, H., Mengal, F., Masood, Z., Mengal, R., Ahmed, S., Bibi, S., ... & Farman, N.
(2015, July). Determination of Vitamin C content in Citrus Fruits and in Non-Citrus
Fruits by Titrimetric method, with special reference to their nutritional importance in
Human diet. In Biological Forum (Vol. 7, No. 2, p. 367). Research Trend.
II. Kumar, G. V., Kumar, A., Raghu, K., Patel, G., & Manjappa, S. (2013). Determination of
vitamin C in some fruits and vegetables in Davanagere city,(Karanataka)–India.
International Journal of Pharmacy & Life Sciences, 4(3), 2489-2491.
III. sohel Chowdhury, M., Akib Ahmed, M., Hoque, R., & Rahman, A. Determination of
amount of Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) from supplied Drug by using Iodometric titration.

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E. ​APPENDIX

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