Resumen de Two Methods of Determining Total Phenolic Content of Foods and Juices in a General, Organic, and Biological (GOB) Chemistry Lab

Lee Alan Shaver, Sam H. Leung, Amy Puderbaugh, Stephen A. Angel

• The determination of total phenolics in foods and fruit juices was used successfully as a laboratory experiment in our undergraduate general, organic, and biological (GOB) chemistry course. Two different colorimetric methods were used over three years and comparative student results indicate that a ferrous ammonium sulfate (FAS) indicator procedure was a good choice for our GOB laboratory. The more complex Folin−Ciocalteu (FC) reagent method, which was applied to solid foods, also performed well, but was better suited for general chemistry students with better laboratory skills. The GOB students also learn about the benefits of phenolic antioxidants and their relative levels in various foods.