[OhyesOhno69]

 Hi, i am a new member of this forum. I am currently in 11th grade. I was assigned on this project, and its about dried fruits. Now I am supposed to make a method to determine the vitamin c content in mangoes (not dried ones). My teacher told me to extract the vitamin c from the mango, then use spectrophotometer to determine the concentration of the vitamin c in the mango. I don't have an idea how to extract nor to use the spectrophotometer. Does anyone know how to extract the vitamin c, and use the spectrophotometer to determine its concentration? Help please! If it's okay, can anyone please explain in details or give me a website which I can make a good reference or guide? Thanks a lot!

[Arkcon]

Start by learning as much as you can about vitamin C.  What does it dissolve in, and what does it not dissolve in?  This will help you formulate a plan to get it out of a food source.  Then lets see your plan, and we'll give you some more tips.

Learn what a spectrophotometer is, and how it works, and see if there are experiments in your lab textbook, that you can start to adapt to analyze vitamin C.

You're going to have to write up your report on how you came up with a method, and "some guy on a website says that" is for one thing, not a reference you can count on, books and journal articles are.  Also, if you just copy the entire procedure from a web page, the teacher will just say you've done no work, and give you a zero.

We do Socratic learning, 'round here.  You ask a question, we give you a hint, you ask another question, we say you're right or give you another hint, like that.  Some noobs have taken to just dumping a complete answer lately, but they're only cheating themselves and you, in the process.

[azmanam]

Some noobs have taken to just dumping a complete answer lately, but they're only cheating themselves and you, in the process.

If you're talking about me, then please accept my sincere apologies.  Please know that was not my intent.  I'll sit a few hands out until I better learn the rules of the game.  hopefully then I'll be better able to help people on this forum.

I like the concept here, I'll work at getting better at it

[Arkcon]

Some noobs have taken to just dumping a complete answer lately, but they're only cheating themselves and you, in the process.

If you're talking about me, then please accept my sincere apologies.

Oh heck, no. You've given quality posts. These are one shot new people.  Hey, this forum is Mitch's not mine.  I give a little hint, just to see if the person knows enough chem to figure out formula mass, and then they go and solve the whole rest of the problem, for example.

But hey no biggie.  If people go around answering the complete question, they're going to get bored of answering the same questions over and over, and move on.

[azmanam]

Cool.  no harm, no foul, then.

Happy Chemistry.  (sorry to do this here, I was having problems sending messages to you specifically...)

[Arkcon]

Yeah, I blocked private messages.  Something ... disturbing happened. 

Not a flame, you understand ('tho I might deserve one from time to time), just a direct plea for answers from someone.  She sent me her age, gender, and her hometown.  I was going to respond with a personal message back, just to let her know I didn't need to know her age, gender or location -- chemistry remains the same without that info, then thought better of it.  Some non-tech savvy parent might have seen it, and thought I'd initiated the personal contact.

There's a lot of kids on this forum, who have no idea of how to retain a safe level of anonymity -- age, photos, personal email, Facebook page of them posing in their house or car, are all in their forum profile.  Just clueless.

[ARGOS++]

Dear OhyesOhno69;

You can’t be lucky!,  ─   Because you caught quite a number of Problems.

I never have seen an enough specific method for and extraction can easy rise to an additional Problem, because the instability of Vitamin C.
Maybe for spectrometric method your teacher thinks about:  "Tillman’s Reagent”

For Spectrometry you may follow the Hints and Links in:       "UV Spectroscopy”

And to get an Idea the Problems you will face, but also to know a more specific method read:

"Vitamin C content of food”

I hope you will have enough patience to solve all.

Good Luck!
                    ARGOS⁺⁺

[OhyesOhno69]

okay, thx for the advice everyone. One more thing, is it better to apply the investigation using spectrophotometer, or iodometry? And maybe a clue on how to extract vitamin C?