Vitamin C Essay

675 Words2 Pages

Investigation into the effect of storage or cooking on the vitamin C content of a food substance: Solubility: Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) occurs naturally as organic compounds. They may appear as white solids or impurely as yellowish samples. They dissolve well in water to form mildly acid solutions. Making them water-soluble. Effect of temperature:- High temperatures: Excess temperature completely destroys and denatures vitamin C by increasing the oxidation rate. Extreme temperatures kill the enzyme ascorbic acid oxidase which is found mainly in fruit and vegetables. Low temperatures: Have the complete opposite effect as high temperatures. Reasons being low temperatures do not denature vitamin C and is therefore a suitable or favourable variable affecting vitamin C. Questions and Answers: 1.1 The volume of water in which the vegetables are cooked must be kept to a minimum. Vegetables contain large amounts of Vitamin C which is water-soluble and therefore dissolves in water. So to ensure that most of the vitamin C is not lost in the cooking process the amount of water needs to be minimized. 1.2 Avoid high cooking temperatures (above 50 C) and long cooking times. Avoiding high temperatures are essential if you want to keep your vegetables as vitamin and nutrient filled as possible. This is because high temperatures destroy and denature the vitamin C in your vegetables. Overcooking vegetables strip the important nutrients, vitamins and flavour from your meal. 1.3 Do not chop or crush the vegetables into small pieces. This is because the vegetables or fruit are now exposed to a larger surface area with more oxygen and this causes them to start oxidising. 1.4 Cooked food must be served as soon as possible after cooking. ... ... middle of paper ... ...fferent kinds of packaging and provide reasons for their use. Vacuum sealed plastic bottle as there is no air that can enter the container. It is also very resistant to damage because if it drops it will not break. They are also recyclable to a certain extent. Glass bottles because they do not erode easily and are very neat, presentable and recyclable. They do not allow air into the juice when on the shelf and keep the product much cooler when refrigerated. 6. Once you have opened a carton of orange juice, why would you store it in the fridge? Once open the sterile environment is no longer there and bacteria can enter the juice. If it is not conserved properly the bacteria will multiply causing the juice to become fermented or go "bad". By refrigerating the juice it inconveniences the bacteria or microorganisms. From forming as the conditions are not favourable.

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