St.

Johns Senior Secondary School and Junior College Mandaveli Chennai 600028

A CHEMISTRY PROJECT STUDY OF THE OXALATE ION CONTENT IN GUAVA FRUIT Submitted in the partial Fulfilment of the requirement for AISSCE 2010-2011

By Abdud Dayan Adeeb Of Class XII C

St. Johns Senior Secondary School and Junior College Mandaveli Chennai 600028

A CHEMISTRY PROJECT STUDY OF THE OXALATE ION CONTENT IN GUAVA FRUIT Submitted in the partial Fulfilment of the requirement for AISSCE 2010-2011

By Jagadeesh Sekar Of Class XII C

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT REQUIREMENTS THEORY CHEMICAL EQUATIONS PROCEDURE PRECAUTIONS OBSERVATIONS CALCULATIONS CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY

STUDY OF OXALATE ION CONTENT IN GUAVA FRUIT

INTRODUCTION
Guava is sweet, juicy and light or dark green coloured fruit. It is cultivated in all parts of India. When ripe it acquires yellow colour and has penetrating strong scent. The fruit is rich in vitamin C and minerals. It is a rich source of oxalate and its content in the fruit varies during different stages of ripening. Guava fruit, usually 4 to 12 cm long, are round or oval depending on the species. The outer skin may be rough, often with a bitter taste, or soft and sweet. Varying between species, the skin can be any thickness, is usually green before maturity, but becomes yellow, maroon, or green when ripe. Guava fruit generally have a pronounced and typical fragrance, similar to lemon rind but less sharp. Guava pulp may be sweet or sour, off-white ("white" guavas) to deep pink ("red" guavas), with the seeds in the central pulp of variable number and hardness, again depending on species

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WHAT IS OXALATE?

Oxalate is an organic acid, primarily found in plants, animals and humans. It is not an essential molecule and is excreted from our body in an unchanged form. Our body either produces oxalate on its own or it converts other molecules like vitamin C to oxalate. External sources like the foods we eat also contribute to the accumulation of oxalate in our body. The oxalate present in the body is excreted in our urine as a waste. Too much of oxalate in our urine, results in a medical condition called as hyperoxaluria, commonly referred to as kidney stones. Diet is looked upon as a preventive measure in addition to medicines to treat kidney stones. Read more on what causes kidney stones.

OBJECTIVE OF PROJECT
In this project, we will learn to test for the presence of oxalate ions in the guava fruit and how its amount varies during different stages of ripening.

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REQUIREMENTS
MATERIALS REQUIRED

100 ml Measuring Flask

Pestle and Mortar

Beaker

Titration Flask

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Funnel

Burette

Pipette

Weight-Box

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Filter Paper

Guava fruit at different stages of ripening

CHEMICALS REQUIRED
Dilute H2SO4 KMnO4 solution

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THEORY

Oxalate ions are extracted from the fruit by boiling pulp with dil. H2SO4. Then oxalate ions are estimated volumetrically by titrating the solution with standard KMnO4 solution.

Titration is a common laboratory method of quantitative chemical analysis that is used to determine the unknown concentration of a known reactant. Because volume measurements play a key role in titration, it is also known as volumetric analysis. A reagent, called the titrant or titrator, of a known concentration (a standard solution) and volume is used to react with a solution of the analyte or titrand, whose concentration is not known. Using a calibrated burette or chemistry pipetting syringe to add the titrant, it is possible to determine the exact amount that has been consumed when the endpoint is reached. The endpoint is the point at which the titration is complete, as determined by an indicator (see below). This is ideally the same volume as the equivalence pointthe volume of added titrant at which the number of moles of titrant is equal to the number of moles of analyte, or some multiple thereof (as in polyprotic acids). In the classic strong acid-strong base titration, the endpoint of a titration is the point at which the pH of the reactant is just about equal to 7, and often when the solution takes on a persisting solid colour as in the pink of phenolphthalein indicator.

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CHEMICAL EQUATIONS
Molecular Equations

2KMnO4 + 3H2SO4 HOOC-COOH.2H2O +[O]

K2SO4 + 2MnSO4 + 2H2O + 4[O]

60 70 o C

2CO2 + 2H2O x 5

3KMnO4 + 3H2SO4 +5 HOOC-COOH.2H2O K2SO4 + 2MnSO4 + 18H2O + 10CO2

Ionic Equations
MnO4- +16H+ + 5eC2 O 4 Mn2+ + 4H2O 2CO2 + 2ex 2 x 5

2MnO4- + 16H+ + 5C2O42-

2Mn2+ +8H2O + 10CO2

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PROCEDURE
1. Weigh 50.0g of fresh guava and crush it to a fine pulp using pestlemortar.

2. Transfer the crushed pulp to beaker and add about 50 ml dil. H2SO4 to it

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3. Boil the contents for about 10 minutes.

4. Cool and filter the contents in a 100 ml measuring flask. Make the volume upto 100 ml by adding distilled water.

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5. Take 20 ml of the solution from the measuring flask into a titration flask and add 30 ml of dilute sulphuric acid to it.

6. Heat the mixture to about 60oC and titrate it against

KMnO4 solution

taken in a burette. The end point is appearance of permanent light-pink colour.

7. Repeat the above experiment with 50.0 g of 1, 2 and 3 days old guava fruit.
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PRECAUTIONS
1. KMnO4 solution is always taken in the burette. 2. Avoid the use of burette having a rubber tap as KMnO4 attacks rubber. 3. In order to get some idea about the temperature of the solution touch
the flask to the back side of your hand. When it becomes unbearable to touch, the required temperature is reached.

4. Add about an equal volume of dil. H2SO4 to the guava extract to be titrated (say a full test tube) before adding KMnO4 . 5. Read the upper meniscus while taking burette reading with KMnO4 solution. 6. In case, on addition of KMnO4 a brown ppt. appears, this shows that either H2SO4 has not been added or has been added in insufficient amount. In such a case, throw away the solution and titrate again. 7. The concentration of oxalate ion obtained from the filtrate is unfavourably high. If the titration is carried with concentrated filtrate, the scale of the burette is out of scope in regard to the concentration of the oxalate ion. So diluting the concentrated filtrate to an appropriate proportion and titrating it with KMnO4 and estimating the end point will make it favourable. After estimating the end from the diluted solution, the original concentration of the concentrated filtrate can be calculated by multiplying the concentration the estimated filtrate with the factor by which it was diluted.

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OBSERVATIONS

Weight of guava fruit taken each time = 50.0 g Volume of guava extract taken in each titration = 20.0 ml Normality of KMnO4 solution = N

Guava extract From Fresh Guava

Initial reading of the burette

Final reading of the burette

Volume of the N/20 KMnO4 solution (ml)

Strength of Oxalate

One Day Old Guava

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CALCULATIONS
For fresh guava N1V1 (guava extract) N1 Normality of oxalate, N1 = x = N2V2 (KMnO4 solution) x

10 =

Strength of oxalate in fresh guava extract = Normality x Eq. mass of oxalate ion = x 44 g/litre of the diluted extract

Similarly, calculate the strength of oxalate in 1, 2 and 3 days old guava extract and interpret the result. For One day old guava N1V1 (guava extract) N1 Normality of oxalate, N1 = x = N2V2 (KMnO4 solution) x

10 =

Strength of oxalate in one day guava extract = Normality x Eq. mass of oxalate ion = x 44 g/litre of the diluted extract

Similarly, calculate the strength of oxalate in 1, 2 and 3 days old guava extract and interpret the result.

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CONCLUSION

The concentration of the oxalate ion increases with increase with ripening

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. INDIAN INSTITUTE OF APPLIED SCIENCE: http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/aug102001/248.pdf 2. www.wikipedia.org 3. Comprehensive Practical Chemistry for Class XII

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