Comparing Vitamin C Content
With the method here, you can compare relative vitamin C
content and rank fruits, juices and beverages from highest to lowest, but
you won't be able to get exact quantities.
You'll need some 2% iodine solution (find it at your local
pharmacy) to prepare the vitamin C indicator solution described in steps
1 to 4.
1. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstach into enough water to make
paste.
2. To this paste, add 250 milliliters of water and boil for 5
minutes.
3. Add 10 drops of the starch solution to 75 milliliters of
water (use an eyedropper).
4. Add enough iodine to produce a dark purple-blue color. Now
your indicator solution is ready.
5. Put 5 milliliters of indicator solution (about 1 teaspoon)
in a 15-milliliter test tube (one for each sample).
6. To the test tube, use a clean eyedropper to add 10 drops of
juice from the fruit or beverage (for solids, pulp them in a blender and
strain the juice). Re-clean the eyedropper for each sample.
Hold the test tube against a white background.
Line up the tubes from lightest to darkest purple. The lighter
the solution, the higher the vitamin C content. That's because vitamin C
causes the purple indicator solution to lose its color.
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