Title: Determination of Citric Acid in Fruit Juice.

Objective: To determine citric acid content in fruit juice(lemon juice) by calculating the concentration of
the acid by titrating with a standard sodium hydroxide solution(NaOH).

Introduction:

Sourness in fruit juices is due to the presence of ciric acid. It occurs naturally in most fruit and vegetable,
but is most prevalent in citrus type fruit such as lemons, limes and oranges. Citric acid has a molecular
formula of C3H5O(COOH)3 and contains 3 carboxylic(-COOH) groups.

In order to determine the concentration of citric acid within lemon juice, a simple acid-base
titration is done with phenolphthalein as the indicator. This is done by titrating the lemon juice with a
base of a known concentration, in this case sodium hydroxide(NaOH) gradually to another solution of
unknown concentration (lemon juice) until the reaction of neutralization between the two solutions are
completed, this being indicated by the phenolphthalein indicator changing color. Phenolphthalein is a
complex organic dye that changes color depending on pH, being colorless in acidic conditions and pink in
basic conditions. By determining the volumes of standard solutions and unknown used in the titration
process as well as the concentration of standard solution, we can determine the concentration of the
unknown. In this experiment, one important assumption was made, that all the acid contained within
the lemon juice is citric acid even though in reality other acids are present such as ascorbic acid, malic
acid, folic acid and others.

C3H5O(COOH)3 + 3NaOH -> C3H5O(COONa)3 + 3H2O

Citric acid is capable of donating 3 protons when dissolved in water which reacts with sodium hydroxide
to give a salt and water. This salt and water is formed by the neutralization reaction when the base
(NaOH) is added. Water is formed when the hydrogen ion (H+) from the acetic acid reacts with one
hydroxide ion (OH-) from NaOH. The place of the hydrogen ion is taken up by sodium ions (Na+) which
disassociates from the sodium hydroxide.

Chemicals/Reagents : Naoh 0.1M , Standard HCl , DI water , Phenolphthalein , Fruit juice (lemon juice)

Glasswares : 10ml Volumetric Flask , 50 ml Burette , Measuring cylinder 5ml , 10ml pipette ,

Erlenmeyer Flask

Procedure :

Standardizing NaOH

50 mL of standardized hydrochloric acid was obtained approximately and it was made sure that the
concentration was recorded. A 10 mL volumetric pipette was rinsed with two small portions of the acid.
10 mL of hydrochloric acid was pipetted into a clean Erlenmeyer flask. To the flask approximately, 20 mL
of deionized (DI) water and three drops of phenolphthalein was added. The end point was known to
have reached when the pink colour persisted for thirty seconds. The burette volume was recorded. The
titration was repeated twice.

Titration of Fruit Juice

The procedure form part B was repeated using fruit juice in the place of HCl. A total of three titrations
were done.

Results and Calculations:

Titration with HCl

Titration Run 1 2 3

Initial volume of burette (mL) 0.00 9.72 19.62

Final volume of burette (mL) 9.72 19.62 29.22

Total volume of NaOH used (mL) 9.72 9.90 9.60

Average volume of NaOH used (mL) 9.74

Titration with Lemon Juice

Titration Run 1 2 3
Initial volume of burette (mL) 0.18 8.88 27.28

Final volume of burette (mL) 8.88 17.58 35.98

Total volume of NaOH used (mL) 8.70 8.70 8.70

Average volume of NaOH used (mL) 8.70

For standardization of NaOH:

HCl + NaOH 🡪 NaCl + H2O (eq.1)

1 mol of HCl will hence react with 1 mol of NaOH to produce 1 mol of NaCl and H2O

Moles of HCl = Moles of NaOH

= 0.1 M × 0.01 L

= 0.001 moles

Molarity of NaOH = Moles / Volume

= 0.001 moles / (9.74 mL / 1000 mL/L)

= 0.1027 M

Mean of the NaOH used = (9.72mL + 9.90mL + 9.60mL) / 3

= 9.74mL
Standard deviation of NaOH used:

Standard deviation, σ = [Σ (x – μ)2 / n]1/2

= (0.05 / 3)1/2

=0.1291

For Titration with Lemon Juice

C3H5O(COOH)3 + 3NaOH -> C3H5O(COONa)3 + 3H2O

1 mol of citric acid reacts with 3 mols of sodium hydroxide

Moles of NaOH = 0.1022M × (8.70 mL / 1000 mL/L)

= 8.8914x10^-4 moles

Moles of Citric Acid = 8.8914 × 10^-4 moles NaOH × (1 mol of citric acid / 3 mol of NaOH)

= 2.9638 × 10-4 moles

Molarity of Citric Acid = 2.9638 × 10-4 moles / (10 mL / 1000 mL/L)

= 0.029638 M

Since the lemon juice was diluted 10 times,

Molarity of Citric Acid = 0.029638M x 10

= 0.29638M

Mean of the NaOH used = (8.70mL + 8.70mL + 8.70mL) / 3

= 8.70mL

Standard deviation of NaOH used:

Standard deviation, σ = [Σ (x – μ)2 / n]1/2

= (0.00 / 3)1/2

= 0.00

Discussion :

In order to quantitatively determine the amount of citric acid within lemon juice, a titration was
performed with sodium hydroxide.
 Firstly, the exact molarity of NaOH must be determined via a standardization with HCl. This is
done in order to get the exact molarity of NaOH that will be used to titrate against the sample of lemon
juice. By titrating with a standard reagent such as HCl of a known molarity, we can obtain the exact
concentration of NaOH.

HCl + NaOH -> NaCl + H2O

C3H5O(COOH)3 + 3NaOH 🡪 C3H5O(COONa)3 + 3H2O

Three titrations of HCl and NaOH were done, with the first one being a rough reading and hence not
taken into account during calculations. The average volume of NaOH required order to neutralize a
standard solution of 0.1M HCl was 9.74mL. This equates to 0.1022 M of NaOH. The standard deviation of
the volume of NaOH required to neutralize the standard solution of 0.1M HCl was 0.1414.

Secondly, once the standardization of NaOH was completed, it was used to titrate against the
sample of lemon juice in order to determine the amount of citric acid present within the given sample.
10 mL of lemon juice was neutralized by 8.70mL of NaOH during for all the three titrations, which
averages to 8.70 mL of 0.1031M NaOH required to neutralize the citric acid within the lemon juice. The
molarity of citric acid was hence calculated to be 0.29899M.

There are a few ways that the experiment could be improved upon. Firstly, preparing the standard
reagent in the lab itself instead of beforehand would perhaps get a more accurate result, or changing
the reagent from HCl to KHP, which is more stable. Both these changes are aimed at improving the
standardization procedure, which ultimately yields a more accurate NaOH concentration which in turn
leads to a more accurate citric acid concentration. Next, instead of testing lemon juice as a whole, we
should instead isolate the citric acid itself to be tested. This is because there are acids other than citric
acid within lemon juice, and that may react with NaOH and hence give an inaccurate result.

Conclusion:

In the given sample of lemon juice, it was found to contain 0.01700 M citric acid after titrating with a
standardized solution of 0.06135 M NaOH solution.

References:

1.Chang, R. (2011). General Chemistry: The Essential Concepts. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies
Inc.

2.Rahman, U. T. (2018). UDEC1224 Chemistry Laboratory II. Kampar: UTAR.

3.William L Masterton, C. N. (2009). Chemistry: Principles and Reactions (7th ed.). California:
Brooks/Cole.