"C-ing" the Hot Potato: Measuring Vitamin C through Iodine Titration

Overview

Objectives/Goals The project was to determine whether lowering the power and extending the microwave cooking time has an effect on vitamin C remaining in cooked red yams. It was thought that the lowest power setting would preserve the most vitamin C. Methods/Materials One yam was left uncooked as the control. Four others were microwaved at 100%, 70%, 50%, and 30% power settings, with the time adjusted in an inverse proportion. Three liquid samples of each yam were made and titrated using an iodine, vinegar, and water solution. Results Overall, the amount of vitamin C did increase as the power decreased. In the 100% power group, 3.73 mg of vitamin C was detected, followed by 4.16 mg in the 70% power group, 4.35 mg in the 50% power group, and 4.65 mg in the 30% power group. The lowest amount of vitamin C was consistently detected in the raw yam, which is contrary to the fact that cooking destroys vitamin C. Conclusions/Discussion Lowering the power setting does preserve more vitamin C, as was hypothesized. It was also found that iodine titration is not a reliable method to detect all of the vitamin C present in raw yams.

Awards (1)

• Third Place

Competition history

• CSEF 2011 Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology · Entry J0503

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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