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2.2 Ash Content Determination
To calculate the amount of ash left over after burning organic matter in order to calculate the
mineral content of both organic and non-organic bananas.
2.2.1 Materials
•Muffle furnace
•Porcelain crucibles
•Desiccator
•Analytical balance
2.2.2 Procedure
Weighing: To guarantee precision, clean porcelain crucibles were weighed with an analytical
scale.
Sample Preparation: Each crucible contained around 1 gram of banana powder.
Heating: To fully oxidise the organic material, the crucibles were heated overnight at 550°C in
a muffle furnace.
Cooling: To ascertain the amount of ash present, the crucibles were reweighed following their
cooling in a desiccator.
Calculation: The following formula was used to determine the ash content:
Ash Content (%) =Weight of Ash/ Initial Sample Weight ×100
By removing the banana samples' organic material and leaving only the mineral residue, this
process offers insight into the concentration of minerals (AOAC, 2019).