Practical 7: IODINE VALUE DETERMINATION LITERATURE REVIEW The iodine value is used to measure the average degree of the

unsaturation in the certain oily food. The measurement of the iodine value of an oil or fat is used both as a means of assessing its degree of unsaturation and as an aid to its identification. Iodine value is defined as the weight of iodine absorbed by 100 parts by weight of the oil and fat. Since the glycerides of the unsaturated fatty acids present react with a definite amount of iodine, the higher the degree of unsaturation, the higher the iodine value. Iodine value is usually determined by Wijs method using a solution of iodine trichloride in a mixture of glacial acetic acid and carbon tetrachloride. Iodine value is often used to explain chemical differences in oils and fats. The iodine value of a fat or oil is the amount of iodine that can be infused in fat during the halogenation process. Halogens commonly used are iodine (I2), bromine (Br2), and chlorine (Cl2); in this experiment, iodine was used. The iodine value determination process is start when the fat or oil is dissolved in a solvent, usually carbon tetrachloride. In this method, iodine monochloride solution in acetic acid and carbon tetrachloride is added into the fat sample. The halogens attach themselves to the double bonds in the fatty acid chain, and require roughly one hour in the dark for this process. Next, the excess halogens that did not attach to the fat molecules are combined with potassium iodide (KI). This reaction produces pure iodine. After a certain fixed time, the amount of excess halogen is determined. This is carried on by changing the excess of iodine monochloride into the free iodine molecule through the addition of potassium iodide solution. A simple iodine-starch reaction follows, the products of which are titrated against a sodium thiosulfate solution to determine the amount of iodine left over. Because the halogens attach themselves to the double bonds, the more iodine found

after the reaction, the fewer double bonds there are in the lipid. The amount of free iodine is determined by titration with sodium thiosulphate, which is already standardized (S. Sadasivam & A. Manickam, 2005) In the essay, a measured quantity of fat or oil dissolved in solvent is reacted with a measured excess amount of iodine or some other halogen, which reacts with the carboncarbon double bonds. After a solution of potassium iodide is added to reduce excess ICI to free iodine, the liberated iodine is titrated with the standardized solution of sodium thiosulphate using a starch indicator. The calculated amount of iodine reacted with the double bonds is used to calculated the iodine value (Nielsen, S., 2003). A solution of iodine ions is yellow or brown in color. When added to a complex solution however, any chemical group (usually C=C double bonds) in solution that react with iodine effectively reduce the strength, or magnitude of the colour (by taking iodine ions out of solution). Thus the amount of iodine required to make a solution retain the characteristic yellow or brown colour can effectively be used to determine the amount of iodine sensitive groups present in the solution. REFERENCES 1. Nielsen, S. (2003). Food Analysis, Third Edition. New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. 2. S. Sadasivam & A. Manickam, (2005). Biochemical Methods, Second Edition. New Age Internatioanal Publisher.