CHEMISTRY PROJECT WORK

Investigatory project
EFFECT OF POTTASIUM BISULPHITE AS A FOOD
PRESERVATIVE

PREPARED BY:
K. MYTHRY REDDY
CLASS XII
2021-2022
DPS INDONESIA
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project work entitled

“Effect of potassium Bisulphite as a food
preservative” is an authentic record of the work
carried out by MYTHRY REDDY, class XII,
Chemistry student of DPS INDONESIA, in the year
2021-2022 under the guidance and supervision of
Mrs. Kalpana Tripathi.

Teacher in charge
Mrs. Kalpana Tripathi
 DECLARATION

I Mythry Reddy, do here by declare that this project

report under the title “Effect of Potassium Bisulphite
as a food preservative” is a genuine record of project
work done by myself under the guidance of Mrs.
Kalpana Tripathi, Chemistry teacher, of DPS
INDONESIA.

Mythry Reddy
Roll No: 3
 ACKNOWLEGMENT

I thank Mrs. Anjali Bhatnagar, Principal of DPS

Indonesia, for giving me full support needed for
completing this project. I would like to express my
sincere gratitude to my chemistry mentor Mrs.
Kalpana Tripathi, for her vital support, guidance and
encouragement - without which this project would
not have come forth.
I am indebted to my parents who helped me
throughout this project.
I also thank my friends who helped me to collect and
organise this project.
 OBJECTIVE

The objective of this project is to study the effect of

potassium bisulphite as a food preservative.
 INDEX

S.NO. TOPIC
1 INTRODUCTION
2 THEORY
3 FOOD PROCESSING
3.1 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD PRESERVATION

3.2 METHODS OF FOOD PRESERVATION

4 CONCENTRATION EFFECT
5 EFFECT OF CONCENTRATION OF SUGAR
6 EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE
7 EFFECT OFCONCENTRATION OF KHS03

8 EFFECT OF TIME
 9 AIM
10 APPARATUS REQUIRED
11 MATERIALS AND CHEMICAL REQUIRED

12 PROCEDURE

13 RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS

14 BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION

Growth of microorganisms in a food material can be

inhibited by adding certain chemical substances.
However, the chemical substances should not be
harmful to human beings. Such chemical substances
which are added to food materials to prevent their
spoilage are known as chemical preservatives. In our
country, two chemical preservatives which are
permitted for use are:
1. Benzoic acid (or sodium benzoate)
2. Sulphur dioxide (or potassium bisulphite)
Benzoic acid or its sodium salt, sodium benzoate is
commonly used for the preservation of food materials.
For the preservation of fruits, fruit juices, squashes and
jams sodium benzoate are used as preservative because
it is soluble in water and hence easily mixes with the
food product.
Potassium bisulphite is used for the preservation of
colourless food materials such as fruit juices, squashes,
apple and raw mango chutney. This is not used for
preserving coloured food materials because Sulphur
dioxide produced from this chemical is a bleaching
agent. Potassium bisulphite on reaction with acid of the
juice liberates Sulphur dioxide which is very effective
in killing the harmful micro-organisms present in food
stuffs and thus prevents it from getting spoilt.
HSO3–(aq) + H+(aq) H2O(l) + SO2(g)

The advantage of this method is that no harmful

chemical is left in the food. The Manitoba Agriculture,
Food and Rural Initiatives reports that this product
works to prevent the growth of mould, yeast and
bacteria in foods. It is also an additive for homemade
wine. Potassium bisulphite is found in some cold
drinks and fruit juice concentrates. Sulphites are
common preservatives in smoked or processed meats
and dried fruits. In spray form, it may help prevent
foods from discolouring or browning.

THEORY

Food materials undergo natural changes due to

temperature, time and enzymatic action and
become unfit for consumption. These changes may
be checked by adding small amounts of potassium
bisulphite. The effectiveness of KHSO3 as
preservative depends upon its concentration under
different conditions which may be determined
experimentally. An ideal method of food
preservation has the following characteristics: -
1. It improves shelf-life and safety by inactivating
spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms.
2. It does not change organoleptic (smell, taste,
colour, texture, etc.) and nutritional attributes.
3. It does not leave residues.
4. It is cheap and convenient to apply.
5. It encounters no objection from consumers and
legislators.

‘‘FOOD PROCESSING’’

Food processing is the transformation of

raw ingredients, by physical or chemical means
into food, or of food into other forms. Food
processing combines raw food ingredients to
produce marketable food products that can be easily
prepared and served by the consumer. Food
processing typically involves activities such
as mincing and macerating,
liquefaction, emulsification, and cooking (such as
boiling, broiling, frying, or
grilling); pickling, pasteurization, and many other
kinds of preservation; and canning or
other packaging. (Primary-processing such as dicing
or slicing, freezing or drying when leading to
secondary products are also included.)
Principles of food preservation

There are three basic objectives for the preservation

of foods: -

1.Prevention of contamination of food from

damaging agents.
2.Delay or Prevention of growth of
microorganisms in the food
3.Delay if enzymic spoilage, i.e. self –
decomposition of the food by naturally
occurring enzymes within it.

‘‘Methods of Food Preservation”

1. Physical methods of preservation =>The foods to

be preserved are physically processed or treated in
such a way that the metabolic activity of
microorganisms and their spores either slowed down
or completely arrested. These various physical
methods used for the preservation of foods are as
follows.
Asepsis Keeping quality of foods can be increased
by introducing as few spoilage organisms as possible
i.e., by reducing the amount of contamination. In
nature, there are numerous examples of asepsis or
removal of microorganisms as a protective factor.
The presence of a protective covering surrounding
some foods e.g. shells of nuts, shells of eggs, skin of
fruits and vegetables and fat on meats and fish,
prevents microbial entry and decomposition until it
is damaged.

2. Chemical methods of preservation =>In food

industries, contamination is prevented by packaging
foods in a wide variety of artificial coverings
ranging from a loose carton or wrapping to the
hermetically sealed containers of canned foods.
Moreover, practicing sanitary methods during the
processing and handling of foods reduces total
microbial load and thus improves the keeping
quality of food. Both flexible. Many chemicals will
kill micro-organisms or stop their growth but most
of these are not permitted in foods; chemicals that
are permitted as food preservatives are listed in
Table 5.3.1. Chemical food preservatives are those
substances which are added in very low quantities
(up to 0.2%) and which do not alter the organoleptic
and physico-chemical properties of the foods at or
only very little.
Preservation of food products containing chemical
food preservatives is usually based on the combined
or synergistic activity of several additives, intrinsic
product parameters (e.g. composition, acidity, water
activity) and extrinsic factors (e.g. processing
temperature, storage atmosphere and temperature).

CONCENTRATION EFFECT
Effect of Concentration :-
1) Sugar
2) Temperature
3) KHSO3
4) Time

Sugar

Time
Effect of Temperture
Concentration

KHSO3

AIM
The aim of this project is to study the effect of
potassium bisulphite as food preservative.

1. At different intervals of time

2. For different concentrations.

APPARATUS REQUIRED

Beaker
 Requirements

MATERIALS AND CHEMICALS

REQUIRED
Potassium

Bisulphite
 Requirements

PROCEDURE
1) Take fresh fruits, wash them thoroughly with
water and peel off their outer cover.
2) Grind it to a paste in the mortar with a pestle.
3) Mix with sugar and coloring matter.
4) The material so obtained is fruit jam. It may be
used to study the effect of concentration
of sugar and KHSO3, temperature and time.
Effect of concentration of Sugar: -
1. Take three wide mouthed reagent bottles labeled as I II
III. Put 100 gms of fruit jam in each bottle.
2. Add 5.0 gms, 10.0 gms and 15.0 gms of sugar to bottle
No. I, II and III respectively.
3. Add 0.5 gm of KHSO3 to each bottle.
4. Mix contents thoroughly with a stirring rod.
5. Close the bottle and allow them to stand for one week or
10 days at room temperature.
6. Observe the changes taking place in Jam every day.
RECORD:
Result: The increase in concentration of sugar causes fast
decaying
Effect of concentration of KHSO3: -
1. Put 100 gm of Jam in each bottle.
2. Add 5.0 gm of sugar to each bottle.
3. Take bottles labeled as I, II, III.
 4. Add 1.0 gm, 2.0 gm and 3.0 gm of KHSO3 to bottle No. I,
II and III respectively.
5. Mix the contents thoroughly with a glass rod.
6. Keep all the bottles at room temperature for about 10
days and observe the changes every day.

Bottle Wt. of jam Wt. of sugar Wt. of Observations (Days)

No. taken KHSO3
added
1 2 3 4 5

I 100 gms 5.00 gms 1.0gm no no no few some

II 100 gms 5.00 gms 2.0gm no no no no few

III 100 gms 5.00 gms 3.0gm no no no no no

RECORD:

Result: The increase in concentration of KHSO3 increase

more time of preservation
 Effect of temperature: -
1. Take 100 gm of Jam in three bottles labelled as I, II and
III.
2. Add 10.0 gm of sugar and 2.0 gm of KHSO3 to bottle
No. I, II and III respectively.
3. Mix the contents thoroughly with a stirring rod.
4. Keep bottle No. I in the refrigerator at 0˚C, bottle No. II
at room temperature (25˚C) and bottle No. III in a
thermostat at 50˚C. Observe the changes taking place in
the jam for 10 days.
RECORD:
Result: The increase in temperature causes faster
fermentation of jam.
Effect of time: –
1. Take three bottles and label them as I, II and III.
2. To each bottle add 25 g of Jam and 1 g of potassium
bisulphite.
3. Keep bottle I for 7 days, bottle II for 14 days and bottle
III for 21 days at room temperature.
4. Note the changes taking place in each bottle and record
the observation.
RECORD:
Observations(Days)
Bottle No. 7 14 21
I No ****** ******
 II No Taste changes ******

III No No Unpleasant smell

develops

Result: With increase of days, the quality of the jam

deteriorates.

RESULT, CONCLUSION AND

SUGGESTIONS
From the experiment, we can conclude thatKHSO 3
acts as a viable food preservative whose increased
concentration can increase time for preservation. But
increase in concentration of sugar content in the food
material causes fast decaying. Also, the experiment
shows that rate of fermentation of food stuffs is
directly proportional to temperature conditions. On
passage of time, even in the presence of KHSO 3, the
food gets spoiled. Though potassium bisulphite is a
good food preservative (class II preservative), it can
trigger lung irritation and asthma. So, our suggestion
is that the usage of food preservatives must be
reduced to the extent possible. Food containing more
amount of sugar is not favourable to keep for a long
time, Potassium bisulphite is a good preservative.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reference books:
 NCERT CLASS 12 CHEMISTRY
BOOKS- PART I, II
 CONCISE INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
-BY J.D.LEE
 NCERT LABORATORY MANUAL -
CLASS 12 CHEMISTRY
Reference websites:
Google :-

Website- www.google.co.in
Wikipedia:-
 www.ncert.nic.in
 www.livestrong.com