Nutrition science projects

Nutrition Science Project

Nutrition based science projects

Do different kinds of the same fruit have the same amount of vitamin C?

Here are several questions you can test for and below I will show you how to test for Vitamin C content:

Check different brands of orange juice for vitamin C content?

Check fresh juice and compare it to frozen juice concentrate?

If you store fruit for a long time does that affect the level of vitamin C?

Here is what you do to check the level of vitamin C.

Measuring Vitamin C

Here is what you do. This won’t give you exact but will compare close enough to show those with the most vitamin c.

Get some iodine (2% from your pharmacy).

1. Put 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a bowl and slowly stir in drops of water until you have a paste.

2. Add another 1 ¼ cup of water to this paste, put in a pot and boil for 5 minutes.

3. Measure another container with Add 10 drops of the starch solution to 1/3 cup of water (you need to use an eyedropper).

4. Now drip iodine into this 1/3 cup until id reaches a dark purple color.

5. Place a teaspoon of this mixture into a small cup like a cup from cough medicine. You can get these from a pharmacy. Use one of these for each test.

6. Now get a clean eyedropper and put 10 drops of juice from the fruit you want to test into the cup. Then rinse the eyedropper well and add 10 drops of another juice or fruit to the next cup and continue until you have all your samples done. Clean the eyedropper after every use.

Put these cups from lightest to darkest. Make sure you mark the cups with the type of juice you put in each because you will be switching the cups around. The lightest liquid has the most vitamin C in it.

Do you know why? This is because vitamin C acid eats the iodine and if the iodine is removed the solution is less dark.

Nutrition Science Project #2:

Do breakfast cereals have the same amount of iron in each one?

Did you know that the iron in your boxed or bagged cereal is called elemental. This is because it is not combined with any other chemical. This iron is sprayed on the outside of your cereal. But you are able to separate the iron with a magnet.

HOW DO I DO THIS?

Get a postage scale or a small scale that can measure grams and ounces. You can borrow one as well. Don’t use your bathroom scale it won’t work!

Put 1/2 cup of one type of cereal in Ziploc bag, and crush only until they are about half of the starting size. Put in a large bowl. Do this for each type of cereal you are testing.

Now get really hot water and pour 1 cup in the first bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. You will do this for each bowl but only do one at a time.

You need a magnet and a strong one if you can get a bar magnet about 2 to 4 inches long it would be the best. Tie a string around the magnet and put in the water. You don’t want the magnet to touch the sides or bottom but you want to swirl it around in the cereal. Do this for about 5 minutes. Try not to use a grey or black magnet because you won’t be able to see the iron. If you can only find grey or black you will have to scrape of the sides to get the iron off.

Remove the magnet and scrape off the iron onto a napkin. Weigh the iron on the scale and record your findings. Do this for each bowl of cereal to determine which has more.

Your hypothesis could be that you think corn flakes contain more iron than chocolate puffs.