Vitamin C Comparison Experiment

Description

The Vitamin C Experiment is a simple experiment for school age children that integrates science and nutrition education using fruit juice, iodine and corn starch. This experiment can support nutrition competencies, mathematics, and science skills.

• Originator of Resources: California Department of Education (CDE)
  
  
• User of Resource: School, afterschool, or child care staff (i.e. child nutrition staff, school wellness coordinators, teachers, afterschool program providers, family day care home providers), parents, and volunteers
  
  
• Audience: School age children
  
  
• Cost: Free
  
  
• Date updated: March 2019

Resource

Vitamin C Comparison Experiment

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  
  
• Water
  
  
• Iodine
  
  
• 6–15 milliliter test tubes
  
  
• Eyedropper
  
  
• 3 different fruit juices
  
  
• 2 fruit juices from concentrate

Directions

1. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into enough water to make paste.
   
   
2. To this paste, add 250 milliliters of water and boil for 5 minutes.
   
   
3. Add 10 drops of the starch solution to 75 milliliters of water (use an eyedropper).
   
   
4. Add enough iodine to produce a dark purple-blue color. Now your indicator solution is ready.
   
   
5. Put 5 milliliters of indicator solution (about 1 teaspoon) in a 15-milliliter test tube (one for each sample).
   
   
6. To the test tube, use a clean eyedropper to add 10 drops of juice from the fruit or beverage (for solids, pulp them in a blender and strain the juice). Reclean the eyedropper for each sample.
   
   
7. Hold the test tube against a white background. Line up the tubes from lightest to darkest purple. The lighter the solution, the higher the vitamin C content. That is because vitamin C causes the purple indicator solution to lose its color.

Additional Resources

For more activities integrating science and nutrition visit the Science Made Simple Nutrition Science Projects web page .

Contacts

If you have any questions, contact the CDE Nutrition Services Division by phone at 800-952-5609 or by email at NutritionEducation@cde.ca.gov.