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One of the most crucial vitamin for our body is vitamin C. It also known as the L-
ascorbic acid. Our body cannot synthesize our own vitamin C so, this is why vitamin C
becomes even more important in our body. There are two types of vitamin: soluble in fats
and soluble in water. Vitamin C is classified as the vitamin that soluble in water and normally
present in most fruits and vegetables. For any person who is lacking the vitamin c, it is
available as in many dietary supplement form as well such as capsule. Vitamin C can serve as
a detoxification pathway in your body in the process of hydroxylation. The molecular shape
of vitamin c contain many hydroxyl group and during the process of detoxification, the
hydroxyl group will be added into the toxin. The toxin will become more water-soluble
(Antioxidant) and finally release during micturate. Vitamin C also synthesizes the collagen
for our body as well. Significantly, it supports in the body growth and development such as
absorbing the iron. Even though our body require vitamin for many purposes, we still need to
maximize the vitamin C intake per day. In average, 90 milligrams of vitamin C is required per
day. Overdose of vitamin C can cause serious harmful effects such as heartburn, kidney
stones or even insomnia. Vitamin C deficiency can also lead to scurvy, the oral disease too.
Vitamin C is available in most
of the fruit and vegetables. For
instance, red pepper, broccoli,
tomato, potato and strawberries.
The most common fruit that people
actually think of when they heard
the word vitamin c is orange.
The amount of vitamin c is varies depending on each types of orange. For example, orange
has 53 milligrams of vitamin C per 100 grams while in pomelo there are 61 milligrams of
vitamin C per 100 grams. Another testing fruit in our experiment is the valencia orange and it
has approximately about 48.5 milligrams of vitamin C per 100 grams. One of fruit that has
the highest amount of vitamin C is the Kakadu palm with the vitamin C amount of 5,300
milligrams per 100 grams. Nevertheless, the amount of vitamin C can be decreased due to the
storage, temperature and the cooking process. Vitamin C can be broken down by heat,
however, microwaving or steaming might reduce the vitamin C loss content. The type of the
container also affect the vitamin C content as well. Significantly, the preharvest and
postharvest of the fruits are another crucial things because vitamin c level can vary after
the fruits were being picked. In this experiment, two factors will be observed in order to see
which one really affect the vitamin C level in orange either the type of container or the
storage temperature. We will keep the oranges in both refrigerator which is cold temperature
and normal room temperature. For the type of container, we will keep the oranges in both
dark and transparent container too and observe the vitamin c level for three days.
There are three types of oranges that we will observe for the vitamin C level. Firstly,
the tangerine orange. Its scientific name is called Citrus reticulata. In orange family,
tangerine orange has a unique appearance and easily distinguishable from the other type of
oranges. It has an easily peelable skin and small size compare to other type of oranges.
Tangerine orange is a good source of vitamin C and contain low calories as well. Not only a
good source for vitamin C but, also a good source of digestion fiber as well. For instance,
hemicellulose and pectin which can prevent from absorption of cholesterol into your body.
Secondly, pomelo is the citrus genus of plants and consider as one of the most benefit fruits.
It is closely related to grapefruit as well. The scientific name is Citrus maxima, as can be seen
from its name, it is the largest fruit in citrus genus. Pomelo contains many benefits such as
boosting the immune system, lower blood pressure and improve digestion. It contains many
nutritional values for instance, vitamin B6, magnesium, dietary fiber and obviously one vitamin
C. The highest amount of vitamin in pomelo is vitamin c with relatively about 61 milligram per
100 gram while other vitamins such as vitamin B6 contains in pomelo only 0.036 milligram.
Tangerine
oranges
Valencia orange is the large fruit that we will test in this experiment. This orange is consider
as one of the good source of vitamin c. Its scientific name is called Citrus sinensis 'Valencia'.
It was first originated in the United States of America from crossbreeding between pomelos
and mandarins by the farmers. It also contains many benefits inside as same as pomelos.
Valencia orange also benefits for your immune system as well as providing the digestion fiber
for your body. In Valencia orange, the amount of vitamin C is not relatively high compared to
pomelos. The amount of vitamin C is about 48.5 milligram per 100 gram.
How vitamin C can be measured from the fruit or vegetables? Some chemicals involve
in this experiment such as iodine solution and soluble starch. The empirical formula for soluble
starch is C12H22O11and iodine is i2 . Significantly, the formula for vitamin C or ascorbic acid is
C6H8O6. As the ascorbic acid mix with the iodine solution and soluble starch, some chemical
reaction will involve and cause the solution to change color. This is because vitamin C is the
substance that will give off their electron (reducer) while the soluble starch will act as
indicator. Vitamin C will be oxidized and causing the solution to change color.
Result
s
day 1
day 2
day 3
