Presence of

Oxalate in Guava
A Chemistry investigatory Project
This is to certify that Alok Rauta of class 12th A has satisfactorily
completed the project in chemistry on Presence of Oxalateions
prescribed by the CBSE course in the academic year 2023-24. I
have examined the project and here by accord my approval of it
as a study carried out and presented in the manner required for
its acceptance. This does not necessarily endorse or accept
every statement made or opinion expressed or conclusion
drawn, but only signifies the acceptance of the project for the
purpose it is submitted for.
Mrs. V. Anita Kumari

(Chemistry Teacher) Sign of External Examiner

I hereby acknowledge my deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness to
Mrs. V. Anita Kumari whose immense help, genius guidance,
encouragement, necessary suggestions, initiations, enthusiasm and
inspiration made this work amaster art and a joint enterprise. I would
also like to friends and family who help me complete this project and
supported me throughout the process.

Alok Rauta
o Aim of the project
o Introduction
o Theory
o Requirements
o Chemical Equations
o Procedure
o Precautions
o Observations
o Calculations
o Conclusions

o Bibliography
 Tostudythepresenceofoxalateionsinguavafruitatdifferent
AIM- stagesofripening.
Introduction
uava is a common sweet fruit found in India and

G many other places around the world. Guavas are

plant sintheMyrtlefamily(Myrtaceae)genus
Psidium(meaning"pomegranate"inLatin),whichcontainsab
out100speciesoftropicalshrub.Onripeningitturnsyellowinc
olor.RichinvitaminC,thisfruitisarichsourceofoxalateionswh
osecontentvariesduringthedifferentstagesofripening.
Guavashaveapronouncedandtypicalfragrance,similartolemonrindbutlessinstrength.

Itisacarboxylicacid,primarilyfoundinplantsandanimals.Itisnota
nessentialmoleculeandisexcretedfromourbody,unchanged.O
urbodyeitherproducesoxalateonitsownorconvertsothermolec
uleslikeVitaminCtooxalate.Externalsourceslikefoodalsocontri
butetotheaccumulationofoxalateinourbody.Theoxalateprese
ntinthebodyisexcretedintheformofurineaswaste.Toomuchofo
xalateinoururineresultsinamedicalconditioncalled
hyperoxaluria,commonlyreferredtoaskidneystones.Dietislookeduponasapreventiveme
asureinadditiontomedicationtotreatkidneystones.
OxalateionsareextractedfromthefruitbyboilingpulpwithdiluteH2SO4.Theoxalateio
nsareestimatedvolumetrically,bytitratingthesolutionwithKMnO4solution.Areage
nt,calledthetitrant,ofaknownconcentration(astandardsolution)andvolumeisused
toreactwithasolutionoftheanalyteortitrand,whoseconcentrationisnotknown.Usi
ngacalibratedburetteorchemistrypipettingsyringetoaddthetitrant,itispossibletod
eterminetheexactamountthathasbeenconsumedwhentheendpointisreached.Th
eendpointisthe
pointatwhichthetitrationisc
omplete,asdeterminedbyan
indicator.Thisisideallythesa
mevolumeastheequivalenc
epoint.

Thevolumeofaddedtitrantatwhichthenumberofmolesoftitrantisequaltothenumb
erofmolesofanalyte,or
somemultiplethereof(asinpolyproticaci
ds).Intheclassicstrongacid-
strongbasetitration,theendpointofa
titrationisthepointatwhichthepHof
the
reactantisjustaboutequalto7,and
oftenwhenthesolutiontakesona
persistingsolidcolourasinthepinkofphenolphthaleinindicator.
1. Apparatus
100mlmeasuringflask Pestle&Mortar Beaker Burette

Funnel Weighingmachine FilterPapers

2. Chemicals
1. dil.H2SO4 2.(N/10)KMnO4
solution

3. Guavafruitsatdifferentstagesofrip
ening.
 MolecularEquations
2KMnO4+3H2SO4K2SO4+2MnSO4+2H2O+4[O]HO
OC-COOH.2H2O+[O] 600C– 700C 2CO2+2H2Ox5

3KMnO4+3H2SO4+5HOOC-COOH.2H2OK2SO4+2MnSO4+18H2O+10CO2

IonicEquations
MnO4-+16H++5e-
Mn2++4H2Ox2C2O4 
2CO2+2e-x5
2MnO4-+16H++5C2O42-2Mn2++8H2O+10CO2

1. Weighed50goffreshguavaandcrushedittoafinepulpusingpestleandmo
rtar.
2. Transferredthecrushedpulptoabeakerandaddedabout50mldilute H2SO4
toit.
3. Boiledthecontentforabout10minutes.Cooledandfilteredthecont
entsina100mlmeasuringflask.
4. Madeupthevolume100mlbyaddingampleamountofdistilledwater.
5. Took20mlofthesolutionfromtheflaskandadded20mlofdilutesulphu
ricacidtoit.
6. Heatedthemixturetoabout600Candtitrateditagainst(n/10)KMnO4soluti
ontakeninaburettetilltheendpointhadanappearanceofpinkcolour.
7. Repeatedtheaboveexperimentwith50gof1day,2dayand3dayoldguavaf
ruits.
 Thereshouldbenoparallaxwhiletakingmeasurements.
Spillageofchemicalsshouldbechecked.
AvoidtheuseofburettehavingarubbertapasKMnO4attacksrubber.

Inordertogetsomeideaaboutthetemperatureofthesolutiontouchth
eflaskwiththebacksideofyourhand.Whenitbecomesunbearabletot
ouch,therequiredtemperatureisreached.

Addaboutanequalvolumeofdil.H2SO4totheguavaextracttobetitrate
d(sayafulltesttube)beforeaddingKMnO4.
ReadtheuppermeniscuswhiletakingburettereadingwithKMnO4solution.

Incase,onadditionofKMnO4abrownppt.appears,thisshowsthateither
H2SO4hasnotbeenaddedorhasbeenaddedininsufficientamount.Insuc
hacase,throwawaythesolutionandtitrateagain.

1. Weightoftheguavafruitforeachtimewas50g.
2. Volumeofguavaextracttakenforeachtitrationwas20ml.
3. NormalityofKMnO4solutionwas(1/10).
4. ENDPOINT:ColourChangestopink
Guava Burette Final Volumeof Concurrent
Solution readingIn Reading KMnO4 Reading
itial

Raw 150 18 132

Semi-ripened 150 13 137 136.06
Ripened 150 10.8 139.2
1) Forrawguava
N1V1=N2V2
N1x10=(1/10)x132
1/10xNormalityofoxalate=(x/100)=strengthofoxalateinfreshguavaextract
=normalityxEq.massofoxalateion
= 1.32/100x44g/litreofdilutedextract
=0.581gL-1
2) Forsemiripenedguava(1dayold).Strength
ofoxalateinonedayoldguavaextract
=(1.37/100)x44g/litreofdilutedextract
=0.603gL-1
3) Forripenedguava
Strengthofoxalateinfreshguavaextract
=( 1.39/100)x44g/litreofdilutedextract
= 0.612gL-1

(a) Thenormalityofoxalateionsof;
 Freshguavasolutionis=1.32 ml
 Semi-ripenguavasolutionis=1.37 ml
 Ripenedguavasolutionis=1.39 ml
(b) Thestrengthofoxalateionsof;
 Freshguavasolutionis=0.58ml
 Semi-ripenedguavais=0.60ml
 Ripenedguavais=0.61ml
The content of oxalate ions in guava was found to be 59.67 percent, which is
close to the literature value of 60 percent.
It was also noticed that the content of oxalic ions grows with ripening of
guava.
1. Searchenginesused:
 www.google.com
 www.wikipedia.com
 www.reader.google.com
 www.labs.google.com
 www.quora.com
2. PracticalChemistrybyLaxmiPublications.
3. TheFamilyEncyclopediabyDorlingKindersley.