LAB REPORT NO.

03
OBJECT:

Determination of ash content of beef, mutton and chicken by soxhlet method via mixed meat,
lean meat and fat meat etc. and compare the data.

THEORY:

Ash refers to the inorganic residue remaining after either ignition or complete oxidation of
organic matter in a food sample. Determining the ash content of a food is part of proximate
analysis for nutritional evaluation and it is an important quality attribute for some food
ingredients. Also, ashing is the first step in the preparation of a sample for specific
elemental analysis. This laboratory exercise uses the dry ashing technique with a muffle
furnace to determine the ash content of a variety of food products. Moisture content
determination is also included so ash content data can be expressed on both a wet weight
basis and a dry weight basis.

The ash content is a measure of the total amount of minerals present within a food, whereas
the mineral content is a measure of the amount of specific inorganic components present
within a food, such as Ca, Na, K and Cl.

Dry ashing procedures use a high temperature muffle furnace capable of maintaining
temperatures of between 500 and 600oC. Water and other volatile materials are vaporized,
and organic substances are burned in the presence of the oxygen in air to CO2, H2O and N2.
Most minerals are converted to oxides, sulfates, phosphates, chlorides or silicates. Although
most minerals have fairly low volatility at these high temperatures, some are volatile and may
be partially lost, e.g., iron, lead and mercury. If an analysis is being carried out to determine
the concentration of one of these substances, then it is advisable to use an alternative ashing
method that uses lower temperatures.

Ash is the inorganic residue remaining after the water and organic matter have been removed
by heating in the presence of oxidizing agents, which provides a measure of the total amount
of minerals within a food. Analytical techniques for providing information about the total
mineral content are based on the fact that the minerals (analyze) can be distinguished from all
the other components (the matrix) within a food in some measurable way. The most widely
used methods are based on the fact that minerals are not destroyed by heating, and that they
have a low volatility compared to other food components. The three main types of analytical
procedure used to determine the ash content of foods are based on this
principle: dry ashing, wet ashing and low temperature plasma dry ashing.

PROCEDURE:

 First of all we took a dry clean crucible and weight it with the scientific balance.
 Record the weight of empty crucible which will be W1.
 Add to gm of the sample to the crucible.
  Record the weight of sample which will be W2.
 Put the crucible contain the sample on the stand and then poke the fire in the burner
under the crucible and heat it carefully at such temperature that the sample contains to
burn at a moderate and uniform rate leaving only carbonaceous residue when the
burning ceases.
 Heat the residue at muffle furnace at 775+250C until all carbonaceous materials has
disappeared (20-30 min).
 Cool the crucible at room temperature in a suitable container.
 Weigh the crucible this will be W3.

OBSERVATION:

Mass of empty flask =W1

Weight of sample= S= 5gm

Weight of flask with sample= W2

SAMPLES NAME CHICKEN (W2- BEEF (W2-W1) MUTTON (W2-W1)

W1)

Lean Meat 0.057 0.023 0.052

Mixed Meat 0.047 0.016 0.030

Fatty Meat 0.015 0.009 0.020

CALCULATION:

% of ash content: W2-W1/ S* 100

SAMPLES NAME CHICKEN (% Fat) BEEF (% Fat) MUTTON (% Fat)

Lean Meat 1.09 0.479 1

Mixed Meat 0.9 0.313 0.588

Fatty Meat 0.29 0.180 0.408

RESULT:

The highest value of ash content is found to be in lean mutton sample.

DISCUSSION:

According to the above observations, the ash content is found to be the most in lean mutton.

Ash content of chicken either with low or high fat content is less compared to the red meat.
Red meat (lean) is an important dietary source of minerals, particularly zinc and
iron. Red meat contributes approximately 17% of total iron intake of the body which
is present in the more readily absorbed haem form of iron.

Red meat contains a variety of vitamins, including a range of B vitamins, particularly

vitamin B3 (niacin), vitamin B6 and vitamin B12. As vitamin B12 is only found naturally
in foods of animal origin, people who do not consume meat or other animal products
may have inadequate intakes.