SKH Lui Ming Choi Secondary School – SBA : Vitamin C content in vegetables
Peter’s grandmother suffers from scurvy. Peter knows that the disease can be cured by taking in more
vitamin C. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamin C. However, his grandmother also suffers from
diabetes. Peter thinks that his grandmother should avoid eating too many fruits as they usually contain
a lot of sugar. So, he decides to cook vegetables for his grandmother. He found that pepper, cauliflower,
tomato, onion are good sources of vitamin C from the internet. He wondered which kinds of vegetables
contain more vitamin C. Although Peter knows that vitamin C may be destroyed at high temperature,
he decides to cook the vegetables in boiling water as his grandmother has only a few teeth inside her
mouth. However, he wondered whether boiling will lower the vitamin C content of the vegetables
significantly. You are going to design and carry out an investigation so that you can advise Peter how to
prepare the vegetables for his grandmother.
Material and apparatus:
1.
Mortar and pestle
2.
Muslin cloth
3.
Filter funnel
4.
Dropper
5.
Syringe (1 ml)
6.
DCPIP (0.01%) (10 ml)
7.
Green pepper
8.
Yellow pepper
9.
Cauliflower
10.
Tomato
11.
Onion
12.
Water bath (beaker and hot plate)
13.
Test tubes
14.
10 ml measuring cylinder
11.
Labels
13.
Stop watch
*
Other apparatus and chemicals found in laboratory can be provided upon request