Niwa warms to juice theory

KENT BLECHYNDEN/The Dominion Post

EXCITING EXPERIMENT: Wellington College student Thang Tran, 17, won four major prizes at the Niwa Wellington Regional Science Fair last week.

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Thang Tran has advice for people who want to get the most vitamin C out of their fruit juice - don't put it in the fridge.

Thang, 17, won four major prizes at the Niwa Wellington Regional Science Fair last week, with his project investigating the effects of temperature on vitamin C.

He discovered that both extreme heat and cold lowered vitamin levels in the apple juice he was testing. "I found out that room temperature is best to store it. I tested it in the freezer and it does decrease in there."

A sample stored in the fridge also contained lower levels of vitamin C.

For the warmed samples, Thang used a water bath to heat the juice so that he could accurately control the temperature, and then used iodine to test the vitamin levels.

Thang is in year 13 at Wellington College and, although the science fair is open to pupils from the age of 12 up, "This was the first time I'd entered so it was surprising to win - I didn't actually know what to expect".

Thang won a $4500 scholarship to study science or engineering at Victoria University, $300 for winning first prize in his age group, and $100 from the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry.

He also secured a place at the Realise the Dream programme, which takes young scientists from all over New Zealand for a six-day workshop in science and technology. Participants compete for sought-after prizes including overseas travel.

Thang's parents are diplomats and he lived all around the world before arriving in New Zealand six years ago.

He has not decided what he will study next year, or where.

"I like physics and chemistry - science is cool, but I also like Latin. I'm still thinking about what I'll study."

- © Fairfax NZ News