Determination of Specific Mineral Content

low volatility; their ability to react with specific chemical reagents to give measurable
changes; and their unique electromagnetic spectra
most effective means of determining the type and concentration of specific minerals in foods
is to use atomic absorption or emission spectroscopy
Gravimetric Analysis
- adding a reagent that reacts with it to form an insoluble complex with a known
chemical formula
- only suitable for large food samples, which have relatively high concentrations of
the mineral being analyzed
Colorimetric methods
- absorbance of the solution at a specific wavelength using a spectrophotometer
Titrations
- EDTA compleximetric titration- mixture of different multivalent metallic ions
present in a food could lead to some problems in determining the concentration
of a specific type of ion
- Redox reactions- Potassium permanganate is titrated into the aqueous solution
of ashed food. While there is e
!"
remaining in the food the #n$%
&
is converted to
#n
!"
that leads to a pale pink solution. $nce all of the e
!"
has been converted to
e
'"
then the #n$%
&
remains in solution and leads to the formation of a purple
color, which is the end&point
-
- Precipitation titrations- at least one product of a titration reaction is an insoluble
precipitate. (ilver nitrate is titrated into an aqueous solution containing the
sample to be analyzed and a chromate indicator. )he interaction between silver
and chloride is much stronger than that between silver and chromate. )he silver
ion therefore reacts with the chloride ion to form *g+l, until all of the chloride ion
is exhausted. *ny further addition of silver nitrate leads to the formation of silver
chromate, which is an insoluble orange colored solid
Ion-Selective Electrodes
- (pecial glass electrodes are commercially available to determine the
concentration of ,
"
, -a
"
, -.%
"
, /i
"
, +a
!"
and 0b
"
in aqueous solution
- a reference electrode and a ion&selective electrode
- only sensitive to the concentration of free ions present in a solution
Atomic Spectroscopy
Analysis of a Commercial Antacid
Introdction
*n excess of stomach acid 1primarily .+l2 causes heartburn and acid indigestion. +ommercial
antacids consist of a number of ingredients, such as binders and flavorings, but the active
ingredient is simply a basic salt such as #g1$.2! 1milk of magnesia2, -a.+$' 1sodium
bicarbonate2, +a+$' 1calcium carbonate2 or *l1$.2' 1aluminum hydroxide2, to neutralize the acid.
3n this experiment we will analyze a typical antacid containing +a+$' which reacts with an acid to
form a salt, water and a gas4
+a+$' " !.+l +a+l! " .!$ " +$!
Procedre
Standardi!ation
5. $btain a 677m/ volumetric flask and prepare approximately a 7.8# solution of sodium
hydroxide.
!. 9issolve between ' and % g of ,.P in approximately 67m/ of distilled water in a !67m/
:rlenmeyer flask.
'. *dd ' or % drops of phenolphthalein and titrate with your -a$. to a faint pink endpoint.
%. 0epeated the standardization procedure until you have ! values for -a$. concentration that
differ by less than 5;.
Analysis of Antacid Ta"lets
5. $btain an antacid tablet.
!. )horoughly wash a !67m/ :rlenmeyer flasks with deionized water.
'. 3nto the flask add the tablet, about !7m/ of deionized water followed by 6.77m/ of 8# .+l.
%. <ently heat on a hotplate until all the effervescence has ceased. =oil for 5&! minutes more.
(ome of the inactive tablet material may not dissolve, however, this should not interfere with
the titration.
6. *dd ' or % drops of phenolphthalein and titrate the cool solution with your standardized -a$.
8. 0epeat with ' more tablets.
Calclations
+alculate the number of moles of -a$. used for each titration of a tablet, this is equivalent to the
moles of excess .+l. (ubtract this value from the initial number of moles of .+l added to the
tablet to give the number of moles of acid neutralized. +alculate the number of moles of +a+$'
that this corresponds to and, therefore, the mass of +a+$' in each tablet. 0epeat for each trial
and calculate the mean and standard deviation of your results.