PH Lab Report
PH Lab Report
PH Lab Report
10/2/14
Period 6
AP Biology
pH Lab Report
Introduction:
The cell is the basic structural unit for all plant tissue. Located within the cell are plastids
that contain the pigment chlorophyll, which gives plants its green color. With the method of
canning, vegetables are cleaned, cut, trimmed, packed into cans, sealed, and heated to
sufficiently high temperatures to destroy microorganisms that cause spoilage and disease.
However, these heat treatments also cause the loss of texture and color in the vegetables. It is
also important for the food processor to control the pH of the water added to the vegetables to
minimize the adverse chemical reactions that cause loss of texture and color.
Objective/Purpose:
The purpose of this lab is to observe how pH and temperature modify the color and texture of the
green beans.
Hypothesis:
The HCl solution will provide the best texture but the poorest color whereas the NaOH solution
will provide the best color retention, but produce the poorest texture.
Materials:
-
Procedure:
1. Label four beakers, cylinders, and filter paper discs, as follows:
a. 0.01N HCL
b. 0.01N NaOH
c. Heated control (distilled or tap water)
Justin Nguyen
10/2/14
Period 6
AP Biology
d. Unheated control (distilled or tap water)
2. Weigh about 20g of green beans into each of the four beakers.
3. Add 100 mL of the above solutions or water to the labeled beakers.
4. Cover the beakers with a watch glass. Stir occasionally with a glass rod or continuously
with a magnetic stirrer.
5. Heat each of the beakers except the unheated control to maintain a slow boil (simmer) for
exactly 15 minutes.
6. Observe and record changes in the appearance of the beans and the solutions in each
beaker during the heating treatment.
7. Allow the beakers to cool and then drain the solutions into their correspondingly labeled
graduated cylinders. Drain the unheated control beaker into its graduated cylinder.
8. Pour the drained beans onto the correspondingly labeled filter paper discs.
9. Determine and record the pH of each cooking solution and the water in the unheated
control.
10. Observe and record the color characteristic and the color intensity for each drained
solution.
11. Observe the changes in texture (firmness) of each of the green beans by crushing or
cutting them with your spatula or table fork. Record this data as well.
Questions:
1. The temperature of the boiling solutions is about 100oC which is considerably lower than
the 116-121oC used by commercial food processors for canning foods.
2. The distilled or tap water solutions will be near neutral, the HCL solution acidic, and
NaOH solution alkaline.
3. The NaOH solution provided the best color retention but produced the poorest texture,
soft and mushy.
4. The HCL solution provided the poorest color retention but the best texture.
5. Chlorophyll is the pigment responsible for the green color of vegetables.
6. Heat destruction of the hemicellulose is responsible for the loss of texture (firmness).
Data/Results:
Drained Beans
Treatment
pH
Characteristic
color
Intensity
Characteristic
Color
Bright green
Intensity
(0-10
scale)
10
Bean
texture (010 scale
10
Unheated
control
Heated
control
Acetic acid
Sodium
bicarbonate
Clear
Pale green
Yellow green
3
8
Pale green
Yellow
brown
1
6
Olive green
Dull green
2
7
8
1
Justin Nguyen
10/2/14
Period 6
AP Biology
Class average:
pH
Control
8
Heated control
7.7
NaOH
11
HCL
4
Conclusion:
My hypothesis was correct as the HCl solution did provide the best texture but the
poorest color whereas the NaOH solution did provide the best color retention, but produced the
poorest texture. The heat along with the acid or base destroyed the pigment chlorophyll within
the cell walls of the green beans which caused them to be discolored. Also, the destruction of the
cell wall and membrane causes them to lose their texture or firmness. Based on our results, the
heated control provided the best of both worlds as the color and texture was moderate. We can
conclude that it is extremely important for the food processor to monitor the pH of the water that
is being added to the vegetables, as it can cause loss of texture and color.
Sources:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canning
2. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/general/food_pres_temps.html
3. Student Activity Guide (provided in class)