COMPARISON OF VITAMIN C CONTENT OF LEMON LEAF, BARK, ROOT
AND FRUIT JUICE EXTRACT
Dr. Chuku, L.C.1, Obara, L.2, Chinaka, N.C.3*
1. Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Biochem., University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, PHC, R/S, Nigeria.
2. Research scholar, Dept. of Biochem., Univ. of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, PHC, R/S, Nigeria.
3. Research scholar, Dept. of Biochem., Univ. of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, PHC, R/S, Nigeria.
*Corresponding author: Research scholar, Univ. of Port Harcourt, P.M.B. 5323, PHC, R/S, Nigeria.
Mail: cn_chinaka@yahoo.com, Mobile No: (+234)8039397700.
ABSTRACT
0.1g of lemon leaf, bark, root and fruit juice extracts were carefully weighed and
used for titration in a bid to compare their various vitamin C contents. The following
results were obtained; for lemon leaf juice extract 1.21x10-1, lemon fruit juice extract 7.8
l0 x 10-2, lemon bark juice extract 9.00x10-3 the vitamin C content of the lemon leaf juice
extract ranked the highest, followed by the fruit juice, while the vitamin C content of both
the bark and root showed same value.
Keywords: Vitamin, ascorbic acid, leaf, bark, root, fruit, titre.
Abbreviation: AA- Ascorbic Acid
1.
Introduction
Vitamins
The term vitamin may be defined as any organic substance present in minute
(micro-gramme) amounts in natural foods that are essential for health and which can
result in characteristic abnormalities when absent from diet or when present in
insufficient amount due to malfunctioning of a particular biochemical and metabolic
process (Anosike et al. 1994).
Classification of Vitamins
There are 13 different known vitamins which are classified into two groups based
on their solubility, namely: the fat soluble and the water soluble vitamins.
The fat soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E and K while the water soluble vitamins
include the B-complexes, which are more readily stored in the body but the water soluble
vitamins are excreted mostly in urine, especially when in excess.
Dietary Sources of Vitamin C
The richest sources of the vitamin in the tropics are citrus fruits and fresh vegetables.
Other source includes potatoes, tomatoes and other varieties of fruits. Cooking leads to
substantial loss of the vitamin (Anosike et al. 1994).
The vitamin content of many fruits is higher when slightly immature and declines as the
fruits hit peak ripeness (www. naturehub. com.)
More important than ripeness is that varieties of the same species of a fruit. This is
evident in guava (psidium guajava) for example; the variety ‘Donaldson’ has higher
content of vitamin C than the variety ‘Supreme’. The importance of vitamins prompted
James Lind a Scottish physician, to illuminate the means of preventing scurvy in an
article titled “A treatise of scurvy” published in 1747. Here Lind described a controlled
study establishing that scurvy could be prevented by including citrus fruits in the diet
(Szent-Gyorgy, 1928).
Lemon Tree
The lemon is a familiar culinary plant indigenous to tropical Asia, but now grown
Worldwide. The lemon is considered to be one of the most alkalinizing foods.
The cultivation of the lemon in Asia goes back at least two and a half millennia-thus, this
plant has a long history of use by human society as a food. Lemons were introduced to
Spain and African by the Arabs in the twelfth century. The seeds of lemons were also
brought back by the Spanish explorer, Christopher Columbus, from the Canary Islands on
his second voyage of exploration.
2.0 Scope of the Study
The aim of carrying out this research is to ascertain the part of the lemon leaf,
bark, root and fruit that comparatively contain vitamin C in abundance bearing in mind
the overwhelming importance of vitamin C to our health, as this will assist in quick
harvesting of this antioxidant towards our goal of achieving a non-medical, but
nutritional approaches of solving several health problems for instance, the disorders of
the throat and persistent catarrh can be cured by lemon juice and all types of fevers.
2.1
Materials
The materials used include the required parts of the citrus fruits which in this case
include;
The root, bark, fruit, leave, burette, pipette, weighting balance, conical flasks, filter paper,
kitchen knife, and electric blender.
Reagents/Chemicals
Standard ascorbic acid was prepared using 0.01g of ascorbic acid and dissolving in 100ml
of distilled water. Also 0.0lg of indophenol was also dissolved in 100ml of distilled water
to get out indopherol used as the indicator in titration process. Acetic acid was gotten
from the laboratory and also used in the process to acidify the solution.
2.2
Methodology
Extraction of the Required Part: The various parts of lemon were sourced locally from
Aluu community in Ikwerre local government area of Rivers State. The roots, leaves and
bark were grinded and 0.1g of each were weighed accordingly and used for the titration
while for that of the fruit, 0.lg of the liquid portion was weighed and used. After
weighing the required quantity, l00ml of water was added since vitamin C is water
soluble. Water is added to the sample in order to get the actual result since we are using
burette, pipette and conical flasks to measure the ascorbic acid of 0.01g and indophenol
of 0.01g into the conical flasks. Without adding water, running this analysis will be very
difficult and also since vitamin c is water soluble.
2.3
Method of Estimation of Vitamin C
The method of estimation of vitamin C content of the fruit samples was done by first
filling the burette with 0.01% indophenol solution. A solution containing lgdm-3 of
ascorbic acid was prepared such that 1cm3 = 1mg of vitamin C. At this point, 10cm3 of
the ascorbic acid solution was taken and acidified with 2ml of acetic acid. At this point,
the indophenol in the burette is run into the acidified ascorbic acid solution until the
solution is permanently pink in a titration experiment.
Based on the above, we note that if Xcm3 are required, 1cm3 of indophenols solution is
equivalent to 10/Xmg of vitamin C. Having standardized the indophenol solution, take
10cm3 of the lemon fruit and treat in a similar way.
2.4
Calculation
For Standard Ascorbic Acid (A.A) Solution
0.01% indo =0.01g/l00ml
0.01% Ascorbic Acid =0.0lg/l00ml
10ml of 0.01% A.A =16.8m1 indo

1ml of 0.01% A.A
16.8
𝑥
100ml of 0.01 A.A
=
168.0ml indo =
0.01% A.A

0.01𝑔
1mi indo =
16.8𝑚𝑙
=
10
10.𝑚𝑙
100
= 168
1
=
168𝑚𝑙
6.0x10-5g/m/
Lemon
E1: For Lemon Fruit
1.30m1 indo = 600 x 105 x 1.30 = 7.8x10-5 A.A
10−5 𝑥 100

% AA = 7.8 x

% Ascorbic Acid in El = 7.8 x 10-2
0.1
=
7.8x102
E2: For Lemon Leaf
2.02ml indo = 6.0 x 10-5 x 2.02 = 1.21 x 10-4
10−4 𝑥 100

% AA =1.21 x

Ascorbic Acid in E2 = 1.21 x 10-1
0.1
= 1.21 x 10-1
E3: For Lemon Bark
0.15m1 indo = 6.0 x 10-3 x 0.15 = 9.0 x 10-6
9.0 𝑥 10−6
100

% AA =

% Ascorbic Acid in Lemon Bark = 9.0 x 10-3
0.1
E4: For Lemon Root
𝑥
1
= 9.0 x10-3
0. 15ml indo = 6.0 x 10-5 = 9.0 x 10-6
9.0 𝑥 10−6
100

% AA =

% Ascorbic Acid in E4 = 9.0 x 10-3
0.1
𝑥
1
= 9.0 x 10-6
Titre Value for Standard Ascorbic Acid
Std. vitamin C volume
=
10ml
Titre value
=
16.8m1
Standard vitamin C 0.0lg in 100ml distilled water.
3.0
Results
Please note that 0.lg of each sample was weighed and used for this titration.
4.0
Discussion
The various experiments carried out and the subsequent results show that vitamin
C is actually present in abundance in various lemon fruits parts experimented on.
Comparatively, the observations made were that lemon leaf had the highest concentration
compared to other parts, followed by lemon fruit and so on as seen in Table 3.3 below.
The tables below shows the outcome of various experiments performed and gives more
insight about the concentration of vitamin C in lemon fruit samples.
The values of various titrations are used to estimate the concentration of the vitamin C in
each of the samples as shown in the calculations done above.
The first table 1 shows the titre values within each of these lemon fruits (i.e. fruit, bark,
root and leaf) while the second table 2 compares the concentrations of similar samples
across the various lemon fruits worked on so as to ascertain which one has higher
concentrations of vitamin C comparatively. The third table 3 does a general comparison
of all samples across the various lemon fruits to also rank them in the order of which one
is more concentrated than the other.
Based on these tabulations and findings, it was discovered that lemon leaf had the first
and highest concentration of vitamin C, while the second highest on the list is lemon
fruit, followed by lemon bark and lemon root which had the same concentration of
vitamin C because of their nature, after grinding the lemon root and the lemon bark the
extract obtained were not much. The lemon root and lemon bark almost had the same
quantity of extract which was why they ranked or had the same concentration of vitamin
C unlike the leaves that had much liquid, hence rank the first and highest concentration of
vitamin C.
Conclusion
Having observed all these, I wish to state that for commercial purpose, it will be of great
advantage to develop lemon leaf and lemon fruit as they are known to have more
concentration of Vitamin C.
On a general note, the experiment showed that the leaf of these lemon fruit contains good
quantity of Vitamin C and can be developed for commercial purpose to aid in provision
of adequate Vitamin C for patients who are in need of it.
SUMMARY OF RESEARCH
1. This work, within the limit of available resource, has provided useful information
as to what part of the plant to get more Vitamin C.
2. It has availed scientists the opportunity to research more on the usefulness of
Vitamin C in nutritional management of diseases e.g. sickle cell.
FUTURE ISSUES
From the findings, lemon leaf had the highest concentration of vitamin C compared to
other parts, suggesting that a good means of harnessed it be employed for commercial
production to boast good health.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
There is no financial support for this research work from the funding agency.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Much thanks to our guide for his constructive criticism, and assistance towards the
successful completion of this research work.
SIDE BAR (Minimum 1 required, 50 to 200 words)
Comparison: It is an act of assessment or evaluation of things side by side in order to see
to what extent they are similar or different. It is used to bring out similarities or
differences between two things of the same type mostly to discover essential features or
meaning either scientifically or otherwise.
Content: The amount of things contained in something. Things written or spoken about
in a book, an article, a programme, a speech, etc.
DEFINITION (Minimum 4 definitions required, for example see below)
Vitamin: It is any of a group of complex organic substances which are present in certain
foods and are essential in small amounts to the health and growth of humans and animals.
Indophenols: It is an artificial metachromatic blue dye obtained by the action of phenol
on certain nitrogenous derivatives of quinine. It is often used to determine the presence of
vitamin C or ascorbic acid.
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C): It is water soluble vitamin that plays an essential role in the
activities of various enzymes. It is important for the growth and maintenance of healthy
bones, teeth, gums, ligaments, and blood vessels; in the production of certain
neurotransmitters and adrenal gland hormones; in response of immune system to
infection; in wound healing; and in the absorption of iron.
Scurvy: It is a disease caused by inadequate vitamin C intake. It disturbs the production
of collagen, a protein in connective tissue, causing weakness of small blood vessels and
poor wound healing.
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Table 1:
Shows titre values within each lemon parts.
S/N
Sample Type
Vol./ml
T1
T2
T3
T4
T av.
1.
Leaf
100
2.0
2.1
2.0
2.0
2.02
2.
Bark
100
0.15
0.16
0.15
0.15
0.15
3.
Root
100
0.15
0.13
0.15
0.14
0.15
4.
Fruit
100
1.25
1.3
1.3
1.25
1.30
Table 2:
Concentration of vitamin C in the leaf, root, bark and fruit juice
extract.
Leaf:
S/N
Sample type
Conc. of vitamin C
Ranking
1.
Lemon
1.21x10-1
1
Sample type
Conc. of vitamin C
Ranking
2.
Lemon
7.8 x 10-2
2
Bark:
S/N
Sample type
Conc. of vitamin C
Ranking
3.
Lemon
9.00 x 10-3
3
Root:
S/N
Sample type
Conc. of vitamin C
Ranking
4.
Lemon
9.00 x10-3
3
Fruit:
S/N
Table 3:
General comparison of vitamin C concentration in the various samples
S/N
Sample Type
Conc. of vitamin C
Ranking of Conc.
1.
Lemon leaf
12.1 x 10-1
1st
2.
Lemon fruit
7.8 x 10-2
2nd
3.
Lemon bark
9.0 x10-3
3rd
4.
Lemon root
9.0 x 10-3
3rd
Figure 1: Genome map of the Borrelia afzelii PKo.
Figure 2: Genome map of Borrelia bissettii DN127
Figure 3: Genome map of Borrelia burgdorferi JD1.
Figure 4: Genome map of Borrelia garinni BgVir.