Macromolecules 2 Lab

++ = strong positive
+ = weak or medium positive
+- = weak positive
- = negative
Benedicts Reducing Sugars Test
Well/Test Tube

Substance

Observation

Reducing Sugar
Present?

Onion

turned green initially

+-

Potato

turned a blue green

then yellow

++

Water

pale blue and

remained pale blue

Well/Test Tube

Substance

Observation

Starch Present?

Onion

yellow coloring

Potato

dark orange

+-

Corn Starch

black

++

Water

yellow

Well/Test Tube

Substance

Observation

Fat Present?

Water

clear

Corn Starch

cloudy clear

Coconut

slight orange

+-

Margarine

strong orange

++

Flour

faded orange

Substance

Observation

Fat Present?

Starch Iodine Test

Sudan III Fats Test

Paper Bag Fats Test

Well/Test tube

Water

dried normal

Corn Starch

dried normal

Coconut

small brown spots

Margarine

very notable brown

++

Flour

dired normal

Well/Test tube

Substance

Observation

Protein Present?

Egg White

lavender purple

++

Chicken Soup

lavender purple

++

Water

pale blue

Biuret Protein Test

Unknown Test- Expected Results (Hypotheses)

Unknowns
-->

Reducing
Sugar

++

++

++

Starch

++

++

++

++

Fat

Protein

++

+-

++

Unknown Test Results

Test

Test Result (++, +, -)

Possible Foods

Reducing Sugar

honey

Starch

table salt

Fat

++

peanut oil

Protein

++

Gelatin

Questions: (Type in questions and answer below)

1. Why did we do this lab? We did this lab because it has relevance to real life in the
sense that we can test for food allergies and the content in foods in order to keep the
consumer safe.
2. Why did each test work with each molecule?
Benedicts- Forces sugar to go through oxidation in which the sugar gains an oxygen
changing the color of the solution.
Iodine- starch being a polymer of glucose has chains that are coiled in a certain way that
when exposed to iodine, cause the solution to go black
Sudan III- Sudan III and the hydroxyl groups are both nonpolar and they bind in their
polar surroundings causing the change of color in the solution and the clumps of fat
found in the solution
Brown Bag- The fat binds to the paper found on the bag and does not evaporate leaving a
brown wet looking spot where the fat is.
Biuret- copper found in this solution reacts with the nitrogen and hydrogen bonds found
in the proteins changing the color of the solution
3. Did potato or onion have more reducing sugar? More starch? Potato because the
potato had a stranger positive than the onion did for the benedict's test. Potato also had
more starch which is shown through the iodine test which showed that the potato has a
stronger positive than the onion.
4. Which foods tested positive for fats in the sudan III test and the brown bag test?
Could you see which food had higher fat content? Only Coconut and margine tested
positive for both the paper bag test and the sudan test. Yes we could tell which one was
stronger because on the paper bag the margarine had a larger grease stain and in the
sudan test it tested with a stronger positive than the coconut did.
5. Was there a difference between the two tests for fats? why or why not? In a sense
yes because we had a mild change in the positive test for fat in the coconut from a weak
positive to a positive but all the negative remained the same and the the margarine had a
strong positive across both tests.
6. Which one of the foods tested had the most protein? Both the chicken stock and
the egg white tested strong positive for the presence of a protein but i think that the egg
white would have more protein because it isn't a mixed solution like chicken stock.
7. What was your unknown substance? Why? Our unknown substance was
substance E because it tested positive for everything minus the starch and e had the
sugar, protein and fat but was absent of a starch.