Measurement Of Vitamin C In Cabbage And Apple

Introduction to Vitamin C

Vitamin C is also called ascorbic acid, and it’s a very soluble in water with antioxidant properties. And it plays a big biological role in living cells (Aman and masood, 2020,p. 121). Animals, including mammals and all the other classes of animals, cannot produce ascorbic acid simply because they lack the enzyme gluconolactone oxidase, an enzyme that is found only in plants, majorly vegetables and fruits. Human beings and animals can find Vitamin C through a diet like vegetables and fruits like apples. Ascorbic acid is essential in the body, and this ensures that the reduction of oxidation is they interfere with the free radicals in the oxidation-reduction process. Without interference, the free radicals may accumulate, contribute to the up normal cell multiplication, and cause serious health concerns like cancer and several heart conditions.

Vitamin Cis also crucial in physiological processes in the human body. It leads to the formation of glucose, collagen and folic acid metabolism. Vitamin C is also important in immunological reactions, and this helps the body fight diseases and improve the immune system. The RDAs for vitamin C in children are 45mg, and in female adults, it is 75mg, and in male adults, it is 90mg (Benerjee 2021). The values can change if the person is an athlete or the body fighting a disease. The anticholestromic action and activating the capillary blood circulation combine Vitamin C, Vitamin B3, and vitamin P.

The main sources of vitamin C are vegetables, including spinach, cabbage, kales, cauliflower and lettuce. Fruits are also the biggest and most significant source of vitamin C, including apple, oranges, mango, and many others. Citrus fruits are known to be the best in vitamin C production. In vegetables, vitamin C will vary depending on the geological factors like soil, climate and preparation method. When cooked, the vitamin is diluted in water, and this is because vitamins are vulnerable in hot water. Therefore, vegetables should be steamed, and steaming will lead to a loss of fewer vitamins than boiling, where vitamins are lost in large quantities. Microwaving is also a recommended way of cooking vegetables. Vitamins should be maintained to give the body the requirement for normal functioning.

Plant	Amount of Vitamin Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper (mg/100g)
Apple	6
Banana	9
Watermelon	10
Tomato	10
Potato	20
Spinach	30
Orange	50
Strawberry	60
Brussel sprout	80
Broccoli	90
Parsley	130
Rosehip	426

Table 1 Shows the Amount of Vitamins in Various Plants.

Cabbage, when fresh, is a very good source of antioxidants, it has a Vitamin C of 37mg/100g, but after the cabbage is boiled and served, it contains 25mg/100g when cooked. Therefore, for cabbage to maintain a high level of vitamin C, it should be steamed rather than boiled. When cooking, microwaving is encouraged to avoid the loss of the critical vitamin in it. Cabbage also has 1.3g of protein, 0.1 fat and 2.5dietary fibre. These results are after the cabbage has been boiled and served ready to take.

Physiological role of Vitamin C in the human body

On the other hand, apple contains less of vitamin C and more flavonoids. Apple eating has been said to reduce cancer because of the elements of quercetin, epicatechin and other components that reduce the risk of getting cancer and other cardiovascular diseases. Apples contain Vitamin C and vitamin K and complex vitamins and minerals, which may include calcium for bone formation and iron for blood formation.

This experiment aims at getting the quantity of vitamin C in cabbage in a fresh cabbage and the boiled one. The difference is then evaluated also to determine in what ways is vitamin denatured during boiling (Verma et al, 2022, p. 603-607). In addition, a 15g apple will be subjected to the same procedure. After which, a comparison will be done to with the DZR of vitamins for human beings. The aim is to consider the efficiency of the experiment and in what ways the experiment can be improved.

Cabbage                                               muslin cloth

Apple                                                   spatula

2 beakers                                              pair of forceps

Conical flasks                                      scissors

Burette                                                 dye

Water                                                    diluted phosphoric acid

To determine the presence of ascorbic acid a procedure of redox titration was conducted using DCPI. The quantity of diluted ascorbic acid is measured by performing the oxidation (Samoggia and Riedel, 2020, p. 128). Diluted phosphoric acid was added to the homogenized cabbage solution, to deactivate the enzyme acid in the plants to be experimented with. After filtration, 20ml plant macerate was added to give a clear solution. The clear solution obtained is then extracted for titration reaction. A solution of 0.09% DCPI was filled in the burette. DCPI is blue when basic and color red when placed in acidic conditions. It is also reduced to a colorless compound by ascorbic acid. The first titration of 1ml contained 4mg of ascorbic acid to record the volume of the dye with the known amount of vitamin C. When all the vitamin C has been used up, no electrons are responsible for reducing the dye, and the solution has been utilized. The solution changes its colour to pink because of the dye (Choi et al, 2021,p. 121) The process was repeated several times for all titrations recording each volume of the residue at all times.  

The results are if a certain volume of DCPI reacts with a solution, the amount of DCPI used gives us the exact measure of the amount of Vitamin C found in the solution. The components of vitamins in apple and cabbage and the cabbage solution was measured and determined by the titrimetric procedure. 1ml of DCPI requires 0.35mg.

Sources of Vitamin C

Table 2: Fresh Cabbage

Cabbage Weight 15g            Total Volume 20ml                       Aliquot Volume;10ml

trial	1	2	Average
Final burette reading	25	27.5
Initial burette reading	22.5	28
The volume of DCPI USED	2.5	5.5	4

 4 ml of dye was used for fresh cabbage. Thus 4 =0.35     4*0.35= 1.4

15=100*1.4 

15/140 =9.3mg of ascorbic acid

 Table 3:Water Cabbage

Total Volume :20ml               Aliquot Volume :10ml

Trial	1	2	Average
Final burette reading	35	36
Initial burette reading	36	37.5
Volume of DCPI used	1.0	0.9	0.95

 0.95 =0.35*mg =0.33

20= 0.33*100 = 33/20

1.7mg of ascorbic acid was used.

Table 4:Boiled Cabbage

Total Volume; 20ml                       Aliquot Volume: 10ml

Trial	1	2	Average
Final burette reading	32	33.9
Initial burette reading	33.5	34
Volume of DCPI	1.0	1.5	1.25

1.25 =0.35 mg    = 1.25 *0.35 = 0.437

10= 100*0.437 =  43.7/10

4.37mg of ascorbic acid was used.

Table 5:Fresh Apple

Apple Weight ; 15g                 Total Volume:20ml                        Aliquot Volume: 10ml

Trial	1	2	Average
Final reading	38	38.5
Initial reading	38.5	39.5
Volume of DCPI	0.5	0.5	0.5

 0.5 = 0.35 mg = 0.5 * 0.37 = 0.18

15= 100*0.18 = 18

18/15= 1.2

1.2 mg of ascorbic acid was used.

Graph showing the concentration of vitamin C in different plant sources. 

As shown in the pie chart above, Apple had the lowest vitamin concentration at 1.2mg/100g then boiled water with 1.7mg/100g at the second biggest is water cabbage with 4.3mg/100g, and the biggest pie is that of fresh cabbage with 9.3mg/100. To mean fresh cabbage has a lot of vitamin C while apple has the least in the experiment done. Boiled cabbage also lost a lot of vitamins compared to the fresh ones. Vitamin is very soluble, and in hot water, they are very vulnerable; therefore, water cabbage has more vitamin C because the vitamins have been dissolved in water.

• Mynetdiary
• Myfitnesspal
• Chronometer 

These are the main apps commonly used, and the applications are beneficial in showing the number of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins in the food you purchase. Some apps allow the buyer to automatically scan the code of the food product he has bought. It gives all the components of the food purchased (Su et al, 2018, p. 284-292). MyFitnessPal has an enormous food database but choosing the percentages of the foods bought, chronometer has an accurate and consistent food database and can be the free version of tracking down micro and micronutrients. MyNetDiary gives information about the different foods, and their nutrient gained when you consume them (Rus, 2019). MyNetDiary can track at least 37 nutrients, and it also counts the significant minerals and vitamins; MyFitttnessApp tracks at least 20 nutrients. Apps are beneficial, and the availability of phones makes it possible for everyone to check on the nutrient availability of food before purchasing.

Table 5 shows Primary Nutrients Analyzed by the Chronometer App

	Protein	Fat	Unsaturated fat	Poly- saturated fat	Carbohydrates	Total energy
Amount in weight	165.7g	28.6g	9.3g	2.2g	106g
Energy in (kcal)	662.8	257.4			424	134

The site has broken down the recipe by re-analyzing it. The formula is used to calculate the energy and the nutrients provided. The reference intake.

Breakfast: 600-800kcal

Four slices of white bread, two boiled eggs 10z, and smoked ham hock 80g

Lunch: 1000-1300kacl

Homemade pizza 230g, apple pie vegetable garnish 200g, roasted turkey bread 250g, multi grained bread10z.

Dinner 800-1000kacl

Chicken soup with a half cup of rice, meatballs pork 250g, salat dressing boiled 10z. 

References

Aman, F. and Masood, S., 2020. How Nutrition can help to fight against COVID-19 Pandemic. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 36(COVID19-S4), p.S121.

Balhareth, A., Aldossary, M.Y. and McNamara, D., 2019. Impact of physical activity and diet on colorectal cancer survivors’ quality of life: a systematic review. World Journal of Surgical Oncology, 17(1), pp.1-12.

Banerjee, S., 2021. Importance of proper diet after thyroidectomy in diabetic patients: A short communication. IP Journal of Surgery and Allied Sciences, 3(3), pp.93-95.

Choi, J., Chung, C. and Woo, H., 2021. Diet-Related Mobile Apps to Promote Healthy Eating and Proper Nutrition: A Content Analysis and Quality Assessment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), p.3496.

Rus, V.A., 2019. The Role of Healthy Diet and Lifestyle in Preventing Chronic Diseases. Journal of Interdisciplinary Medicine, 4(2), pp.57-58.

Samoggia, A. and Riedel, B., 2020. Assessment of nutrition-focused mobile apps’ influence on consumers’ healthy food behaviour and nutrition knowledge. Food Research International, 128, p.108766.

Su, Y., Sun, Y., Ju, D., Chang, S., Shi, B. and Shan, A., 2018. The detoxification effect of vitamin C on zearalenone toxicity in piglets. Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 158, pp.284-292.

Verma, A., Lata, K., Khanna, A., Singh, R., Sachdeva, A., Jindal, P. and Yadav, S., 2022. Study of effect of gluten-free diet on vitamin D levels and bone mineral density in celiac disease patients. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 11(2), pp.603-607.