AIM

Extraction of

Indicators from Beetroot

and Onion

CONTENTS
Certificate
Acknowledgement
AIM
pH Indicator
Beetroot
Beetroot as an Indicator
Preparation of the Indicator
Detection of pH Range
Onion
Onion as an Indicator
Olfactory Indicators
bibliography

Certificate
This is to certify that Bablu
kumar munda of class
XII-B has completed this
project
under
my
supervision
for
the
academic year 2015-2016.
.
(Internal Examiner)
Date:

..
(External
Examiner)

Acknowledge
ment
I wish to express my sincere
gratitude to Mr Satyapal Sir for
providing me an opportunity to
do
my
project
work
on
Extraction
of
Indicators
from Onions and Beetroot.
This project bears an imprint of
many people. I sincerely thank
my project partner for guidance
and encouragement in carrying
out his project work and cooperating with me. I thank my
brother for his kind co-operation

to the completion of my project

work. Last but not the least I
wish to express a sense of
gratitude and love to my
beloved parents for their help,
manual support and strength.

pH Indicator
A pH indicator is a halochromic
chemical compound added in
small amounts to a solution so the

pH (acidity or basicity) of the

solution
can
be
determined
visually. Hence, a pH indicator is a
chemical detector for hydronium
ions (H3O+) or hydrogen ions
(H+) in the Arrhenius model.
Normally, the indicator causes the
color of the solution to change
depending on the pH. Indicators
can also show change in other
physical properties; for example,
olfactory indicators show change
in their odor.

Beetroot
The beetroot is the taproot
portion of the beet plant, usually
known in North America as the
beet, also table beet, garden
beet, or red or golden beet. It is
several of the cultivated varieties
of Beta vulgaris grown for their

edible taproots and their greens.

These
varieties
have
been
classified as B. vulgaris subsp.
vulgaris Conditiva Group.
Other than as a food, beets have
use as a food coloring and as a
medicinal
plant.
Many
beet
products are made from other
Beta
vulgaris
varieties,
particularly sugar beet.

Beetroot as an
Indicator
Beetroot Red, is a glycosidic
food
dye
obtained
by
hydrolyzing
the
glucose
molecule, Betanin.

The colour of Betanin depends

on pH. It
becoming
increases.
alkaline
degrades
resulting
colour.

is bright bluish-red,
blue-violet as the pH
Once the pH reaches
levels
Betanin
by
hydrolysis,
in a yellow-brown

Preparation of
the Indicator

1). 300.0 g of chopped Beetroot

was added to 50.00cm3 of
boiling water in a beaker and
was boiled continuously for 45
minutes.
2). After allowing the beaker to
cool for 15 minutes, boiled
Beetroot were squashed and the
liquid was filtered.
3). The residues were squeezed
once again and the liquid was
evaporated to get a highly
concentrated portion of the
indicator.

Detection of pH
Range

series of solutions in the range pH

1.0-13.0 was prepared by using 1.0
M NaOH and 1.0 M HCl acid.

When the indicator was added to the

prepared series of solutions the
colour was changed from red to
yellow in between pH 10.0-12.0.

In

order to get the exact pH range,

another series of solutions was
prepared by diluting the pH 10-12
solution range into 10.10, 10.20,
,12.00 and 0.05 ml of the
indicator was added to each
solution.

A colour change was observed in the

pH range 10.80-11.20, which is the
working pH range of Beetroot.

Onion

The onion (Allium cepa L.) (Latin cepa =

onion), also known as the bulb onion or
common onion, is a vegetable and is the
most widely cultivated species of the
genus Allium.
This genus also contains several other
species variously referred to as onions
and cultivated for food, such as the
Japanese bunching onion (A. fistulosum),

the Egyptian onion (A. proliferum), and

the Canada onion (A. canadense). The
name "wild onion" is applied to a
number of Allium species, but A. cepa is
exclusively known from cultivation and
its ancestral wild original form is not
known,
although
escapes
from
cultivation have become established in
some regions. The onion is most
frequently a biennial or a perennial
plant, but is usually treated as an
annual and harvested in its first growing
season.

Onion as an
Indicator
Onion is an olfactory indicator.
They have a characteristic odour
but when chopped onions are kept
in a dilute solution of sodium
hydroxide,
they
lose
their

characteristic odour. However, on

keeping the chopped onions in a
dilute
acidic
solution,
the
characteristic odour of onions is not
lost. This experiment can help in
identifying
acidic
or
alkaline
solution. Red onion can act as a
visual indicator at the same time. It
changes from pale red in acid
solution to green in basic solution.

Clove Oil Vanilla Extract

Onions

Olfactory
Indicators

An
Olfactory
indicator
is
a
substance whose smell varies
depending on whether it is mixed
with an acidic or basic solution.
Olfactory indicators can be used in
the laboratory to test whether a
solution is a base or an acid, a
process called olfactory titration.
Onion , clove oil and vanilla extract
are examples. They lose their smell
with bases but not with acids.
Olfactory indicators can be used to
engage visually impaired students
in laboratory work.

Bibliograp
hy
Reference books :

NCERT CLASS 12
CHEMISTRY BOOK
NCERT LAB MANUAL

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