Oxidation Lab

Oxidation Lab Sheet

What do health experts mean when they say fresh fruits and vegetables can protect your health?

Discussion: Fresh fruits and vegetables are based on oxygen. O2 is the chemical formula for the gas. Oxygen can both help and hurt living things. Oxygen helps living things by providing a chemical that allows our bodies to process nutrients. Oxygen can also hurt and cause damage when it participates in oxidation reactions.

Oxidation is a process that causes damage to cells in a way that is similar to the reactions that cause iron to rust. What happens to iron and some kinds of steel when they are left open to air and moisture? They rust and corrode (oxidize).

Certain foods have the ability to protect cells from some of the damage caused by oxygen. These foods contain chemicals or agents called antioxidants, such as vitamins A, C, and E. Other antioxidants include: blueberries (most concentrated anti-oxidant source), oranges, broccoli, carrots, watermelon, cabbage, apples, spinach, and tomatoes.

Lemons contain vitamin C that inhibits oxidation of apple slices. Use this experiment to show the damage (oxidation) that can take place and how lemon can have an effect.

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Materials:
  • 1 apple
  • 1 lemon knife
  • paper plate or towel

Procedure:

  1. Cut two slices off the apple. Leave the skin on.
  2. Place the apple slices peel side down on the paper plates or paper towels.
  3. Cut the lemon in half.
  4. Squeeze a generous portion of the lemon juice onto only one slice of apple.
  5. Leave the apples on the plates for an hour.
  6. Observe the apples after an hour and see what happened. Has the color changed?
  7. Leave the apples out for another hour.
  8. Observe the apples for any more changes.

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Observations: Fill the chart to record the test results.

 

Color after 1 hour

Color after 2 hours

Apple - no lemon

 

 

Apple - with lemon

 

 

Conclusion:

  • After one hour, what did you observe?
  • What did the apple look like with lemon juice?
  • What did the apple with no juice look like?
  • How do fresh fruits and vegetable help us stay healthy?
  • What did you observe after the second hour?