KINETIC MODELING OF ASCORBIC ACID DEGRADATION IN COMMONLY CONSUMED VEGETABLES DIPPED IN SODIUM CHLORIDE USING COMPUTER SIMULATION TECHNIQUE

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is one of the most important and popular vitamins and is contained in most fruits and vegetables; the problem with vitamin C is its easy degradation during pre-treatment and storage. In this study, kinetic modeling of degradation of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in lettuce, cabbage, and carrot common vegetables dipped in sodium chloride at temperature ranges of 27.36°C–29.92°C was investigated and samples after dipping at various temperatures and timings were prepared for analysis, and high pressure liquid chromatography was used for determination of the AA of the common vegetable samples which consisted of an isocratic elution procedure with UV-Visible detection at 245 nm. The rate constants and half-lives were calculated using the integrated law method. Activation energy and forecast were determined using the Arrhenius equation and time series analysis. Degradation of ascorbic acid in the commonly consumed vegetables under the same pretreatment procedure followed the first-order kinetic model, as the average coefficient of determination (R2-value) was greater than 0.91. The rate constant of ascorbic acid degradation for lettuce, cabbage, and carrot dipped in NaCl under the same temperature condition of 27.36°C was 0.0135, 0.0803, and 0.0164 day−1, respectively. Their half-lives were 51.3442, 18.63197, and 42.26507 minute−1, activation energies; 161.5341, 18.5679, and 126.3887 Kcal/mol, respectively. The ln(C) forecast of the vegetables dipped in NaCl for 60 minutes at 27.36°C exhibited 2.1165, 0.5925, and 3.1430 mg/100 g for lettuce, cabbage, and carrot, respectively. The proposed models at 27.36°C were ln(C) = ln(C0) − 0.0135t, ln(C) = ln(C0) − 0.0803t, and ln(C) = ln( C0) − 0.0164t.The most appropriate commonly consumed vegetable under dipped NaCl and storage is the lettuce because its rate constant depicted from the model equations was lower, half-life longer, activation energy higher, and forecast longer. ARTICLE INFO