Blueberry Indicator

We had made red cabbage indicator in science and I wanted to find out if I could make a different one at home. I found out that other plants can be used instead and decided to try blueberries.

Firstly I took 100g blueberries and put them in a saucepan with 100ml water. I boiled the mixture for 2 minutes and the blueberries turned into something a bit like jam. I then filtered the mixture into a cup using a coffee filter and added some water to make more of the indicator.

Making the indicator:

I collected up a selection of household liquids to test: antibac spray, bleach spray, limescale remover, lemon juice, vinegar, sodium bicarbonate and toothpaste. I put some of each sample into a small white beaker (I chose white so I could see any colour changes most clearly). I then added a spoonful of indicator and noted any colour change.   

The end result. Square container has the indicator in. Substances tested are behind each beaker. 

 One substance went brown even though it was a strong alkali, this was bleach and it went brown because bleach removes colours from things which explains why it went brown. Since I had some mixture left over from the experiment, I wanted to do one more. I put some tooth paste in a mug and stirred some of our indicator into it. Even though it is hard to see it on a screen, it went really blue when it touched the red indicator. 

Results table:

In summary, the indicator that I made from blueberries did work as the colours matched what we know about the test substances. But, the indicator did not really show as much of a range of colours as much as red cabbage or universal indicator.

If I were to do it again more accurately, I would get some substances with pre-defined pH's, for example different acids and alkalis from the the lab. This would show the range of colours that this indicator can produce for different pHs.