INTRODUCTION

Tomatoes are an essential part of our diet. They provide us with

vitamins and minerals. The vitamin present mainly is Vitamin C
which is also known as Ascorbic acid. It also contains oxalic acid.
The acidic property in tomatoes is mainly due to the presence of
oxalic acid.

Fruits of different plants vary in shape, size and colour depending

on their stages of maturation. Flowers contain overies, which on
fertilization convert the flower into a fruit. The fruit undergoes a lot
of physiological and biological changes. The fruit is said to be
mature as soon as ovary stops growing.

After the maturation, a phase termed as the ripening phase of the

fruit starts. This process involves many changes after the fruit has
reached its final size. The ripening of fruits involves many
chemical changes too. For example, change of starch in sugar,
variations in concentration of acids, production of various esters,
breakdown of chlorophyll, appearance of erythrocyanins and
other pigments causing a change in colour, taste, texture and
flavour of the fruit. All these observations account for changing
appearance of immature tomato into a ripened fruit. However, if a
fruit gets over-ripened, it might start decaying and may loose its
edible utility to man and animal.

Tomatoes belong to the nightshade plant family, along with

eggplant, potatoes and bell peppers. While these other
nightshade plants contain a “high” amount of oxalate, or more
than 10 mg per serving, tomatoes contain only a “moderate”
amount, or between 2 and 10 mg per serving. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture lists the oxalic acid content of tomatoes
at 50 mg per 100 g serving. The oxalate content of any one type
of food is highly variable, however, depending on the state of
ripeness and climate, as well as soil conditions. Very ripe
tomatoes, for example, generally contain higher oxalate amounts
than less mature fruit. According to “The Encyclopedia of Healing
Foods,” published reports of oxalate levels in one specific food
can differ 2- to 15-fold.

AIM
TO STUDY THE OXALIC ACID IN TOMATOES

MATERIALS USED

The following materials were used to carry out the

investigation:

A burette, a 10ml Pipette, a Funnel, a 500 ml Beaker, a

Measuring Flask, a Titration Flask, chips of Potassium Hydroxide
(KOH), Tomatoes in different stages of their ripening, an Iron
stand, Phenolphthalein indicator.
 THEORY

Acidity of fruits is due to the formation of an acid in the fruits.

In tomatoes the acidity is due to the presence of ascorbic acid
and mainly oxalic acid. Generally, the inner layers of these
fruits, due to the action of certain enzymes and substrates
produces the acid. The acid is found in these layers.

The normality of a solution is the number of gram equivalents of

the solute per liter of the solution. i.e.

Gram Equivalent = NW/Weight/No. of electrons transferred.

Gram Equivalent of KOH = 1.4

So, in solution, 1.4 grams of KOH is dissolved in 250 ml of water

for 0.1N solution.

PROCEDURE

To prepare 0.1 N KOH Solution:

· 1.4 grams of KOH was weighed using the weight balance.

· It is dissolved in 250 ml of water using a measuring flask.
· Thus we get 0.1N KOH solution for titration.
 To prepare Tomato Juice for titration:

· Take three different tomatoes at different stages of their

ripening as follows
1. Unripe Tomato
2. Ripe Tomato
3. Over ripe Tomato
· Squeeze out the juice of each tomato separately and put the
juice of each tomato in different beakers and dilute it by
suitably adding water.
· Now label these three beakers. Thus the tomato juice for
titration is ready.

Carrying out Titration:

· Take the burette, rinse it with KOH and then fill it with the
prepared 0.1N KOH solution.
· Pipette out 10 ml juice of the prepared tomato juice solution
into the titration flask.
· Add 2 to 3 drops of phenolphthalein in the titration flask.
· Titrate it dropwise with the 0.1N KOH solution present in the
burette till the solution becomes pink.
· Note the burette reading.
· The titration of the same solution was repeated again till the
concordant reading was obtained.
· In the same way the other two tomato juices were titrated and
concordant readings were obtained and recorded in the tabular
form.
 OBSERVATION

WEIGHT OF KOH = 1.4 g

VOLUME OF KOH SOLUTION = 250 ml

STANDARD SOLUTION = 0.1 N KOH SOLUTION

VOLUME OF JUICE TAKEN IN EACH TITRATION = 10 ml

INDICATOR USED = PHENOLPTHALEIN

END POINT = COLOURLESS FRUIT JUICE SOLUTION TURNS PINK.

CALCULATIONS

Normality of the KOH solution = N1

Normality of the Tomato juice = N2

Volume of the KOH solution = V1

Volume of the Tomato juice = V2

 I UNRIPE TOMATO

N1 = 0.1 N N2 = ? V1 = 4.4 V2 = 10 ml

N1 V1 = N2 V2

So, N2 = N1 V1
V2

N2 = 0.1 X 4.4
10

N2 = 0.044

Strength of the juice = Equivalent weight X Normality

= 63 X 0.044
= 2.77 grams/liter

II RIPE TOMATO

N1 = 0.1 N N2 = ? V1 = 3.2 V2 = 10 ml

N1 V1 = N2 V2

So, N2 = N1 V1 = 0.1 X 3.2

V2 10
N2 = 0.032

Strength of the juice = Equivalent weight X Normality

= 63 X 0.032
= 2.02 grams/liter

III OVER-RIPE TOMATO

N1 = 0.1 N N2 = ? V1 = 2.3 V2 = 10 ml

N1 V1 = N2 V2

So, N2 = N1 V1 = 0.1 X 2.3

V2 10

N2 = 0.023

Strength of the juice = Equivalent weight X Normality

= 63 X 0.023
= 1.45 grams/liter

RESULT
The strength of the acid content in the juices of various
tomatoes is found to be:

Unripe Tomato = 2.77 grams/liter

Ripe Tomato = 2.02 grams/liter
Over-ripe Tomato = 1.45 grams/liter
 CONCLUSION
Thus as the tomatoes ripen their acidic content decreases. The
decreasing order of the acidity in tomatoes is as follows :

Unripe Tomato > Ripe Tomato > Over-ripe Tomato

(Most acidic) (Moderately acidic) (Least acidic)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Chemical and Functional
Properties of Food Components
2. Chemistry Lab Manual