Project Abstract

The estimation of vitamin C in Tangerine Juice was investigated, the results obtained using titrimetric method shows that one tangerine fruit juice contains approximately 10mg of vitamin C content, and the 19 fruits sample used in the experiment contains about 190mg of vitamin c, from other survey in literature, tangerine juice was discovered to contain other nutrient such as Vitamin B2, B12, Vit. E, Folate, Folic Acid in little quantities but contains high quantity of Vitamin C, which shows that tangerine fruit juice is a good source of vitamin C and it is advised to take about 6 fruits of tangerine per day to meet the RDA standard required.

Project Overview

INTRODUCTION SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION OF TANGERINE Kingdom:       Plantae Division:       Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Sapindales Family:           Rutaceae Genus:           Citrus Species:         C reticulate Binomial name:       Citrus reticulate 1.1         HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF TANGERINE Tangerine, which are native to Japan since the sixteenth century; belong to the mandarine orange family that has flourished in the orient for centuries. The tangerine is named from tangers, the North African part from which this citrus was originally shipped to Florida. Tangerine is most abundantly grown in Japan, southern China, Indian and the East Indies, and is esteemed for home consumption in Australia and the United States. Tangerines gravitated to the Western world by small steps taken by individuals interested in certain spread, can be roughly traced in the chronology of separate introductions., two varieties from canton were taken to cultivation in the Mediterranean area by 1850, were all established in Italy.             Sometimes between 1840 and 1850, the willow leaf or china Mandarin was imported by the Italian Consular and planted at the consulate in New Orleans. It was carried from there to Florida and later reached California. The -Owari” Satsuma arrived from Japan, first in 1876 and next in 1878 and nearly a million buddle trees from 1908 to 1911 for planting in Gulf States. Six fruits of the -King Mandarin were sent, from Saigon in 1882 to a Dr. Magee at the River State, in California. They latter sent two (2) seedlings to winter park, Florida. Seeds of the -Oneco” Mandarin were obtained from India by the nurseryman, P. W. Reasoner in 1882. in 1892 (or 1893) two (2) fruits of Ponkan were sent from China to J. C. Barrington of MC Meskin, Florida and seedlings from there were distributed and led to commercial propagation.             The distribution of the Mandarin Orange family seedling from Florida led to the introduction of tangerine (Mandarin family) into African through the white men who engage in African human slavery trade and also through some white men who colonizes the African Countries. Because of the edible and portability nature of tangerine, the white men find it very easily to be transported and these distributions also lead to the introduction of tangerine into the West African and then to Nigeria. Today in Nigeria tangerine trees are found in so many orchards and other places in the community being grounded or planted near peoples home or surroundings, because it mostly grown through explosive mechanism. Today in Nigeria, ripe tangerines fruits are purchased directly form their trees or from local or villages market were they are sold and it is mostly meant for the consumption purpose because of its edible in nature. 1.2         VITAMIN C IN FOODS AND FRUITS The content of vitamin C is widely distributed in fruits and vegetables. A portion is lost after prolonged storage of unprocessed fruits and vegetables, but it is partially preserved (half or greater) by most means of food processing which includes boiling, steaming, pressure cooking, preserving jams, and jellies, freezing, dehydration and canning. Utilization of the vitamin C is increased during pregnancy and lactation and in thyrotoxicosis and absorption is decreased in diarrhea states and in achlohydria.             Vitamin C is highly sensitive to air, water and temperature. About 25% of the vitamin C in vegetable can be lost simply by blanching (boiling or steaming the food for a few minutes). This same degree of loss occurs in the freezing and unthawing of vegetables and fruits. Cooking of vegetables and fruits of longer periods of time (10-20 minutes) can result in a loss of over one half the total vitamin C content. When fruits and vegetables are canned and then reheated only 1/3 of the original vitamin C content may be left. In general, an unripe food is much lower in vitamin C than a ripe one, but provided that the food is matured and ripe, the vitamin C content is high when the food is younger at the time of harvest. Vitamin C decreases during the ripening process immature fruits have the highest levels of vitamin c.   1.3         FOODS AND FRUITS THAT PROVIDE VITAMIN C Excellent foods and fruits with high level of vitamin C includes broccoli, bell peppers, kale Cauli flower, strawberries, lemon, mustard and turnip greens, Brussels sprouts, papaya, chard, cabbage, spinach, kiwifruit, snow peas, cantaloupe, oranges, grape fruits, lime, tomatoes, tangerines, Zucchini, raspberries, a asparagus, celery, pineapples, lettuce, water melon, fennel, peppermint, parsley and other ripe fruits. 1.4         SCOPE OF STUDY Numerous analytical techniques have been reported in the literature for the determination of vitamin C in different citrus juice. These includes Titrimetric, Fluorometric, Complexometric methods, liquid Curomatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, Spectrophotometric, Amperometric and enzymatic. Most of these methods overestimate the levels of vitamin C in different citrus juice due to the presence of oxidizable species other than vitamin C. the vitamin C levels in some tropical food samples have been reported by several investigators. The methods commonly employed in the determination and estimation of vitamin C in citrus juice was titrimetric or Spectrophotometric method. Although titrimetric methods are simple to use in the determination of vitamin C, difficulties are encountered with commonly used titrants and interferences often occur with coloured samples.             Therefore, the estimation of vitamin C in tangerine juice will be assessed to determine the quantity of vitamin C in tangerine juice. This will be done through titrimetric analysis.