Analytical Chemistry for Chemical Engineers: A Hands-On Activity for Discovering Cooking Effects on Micronutrient Quantities in Raw and Cooked Vegetables

Abstract

This paper reports the quantification of Ca, Mg, and Fe as micronutrients in different vegetables (spinach, sugar beets, and carrots) from raw and processed samples. Simple extraction procedures, titrations, and spectrophotometric analysis were used to determine the amounts of micronutrients before and after cooking. From the obtained results, an ANOVA analysis was performed to determine statistical differences between the samples. Results show that the final amounts of micronutrients decreased after cooking for all vegetables.