Amjad Hussain 0321 633 6126

Biology Made Simple

Food Tests

Food Tests
Carbohydrates: Reducing Sugar:

(Benedicts test)

Half fill a beaker with water and boil it. Take a sample of food (crushed or chopped) in a boiling tube. Add enough Benedicts solution to the food to cover it. Stand the boiling tube containing the food and Benedicts solution in the beaker of boiling water. Observe the change in colour. o If the Benedicts solution stays blue, there is no reducing sugar in the food. o If it changes colour from blue to cloudy green, to yellow and finally to orange-red precipitate then reducing sugar is present.

Starch:

(Iodine test)

Put small amount of food on a clean tile or on any clean surface. Using a dropper pipette add a few drops of iodine (in potassium iodide). Wait a few moments, and then observe change in colour. o If the iodine stays orange-brown then there is no starch in the food. o If the iodine turns dark blue-black then there is starch in the food.

Proteins:

(Biuret test) (Note: Biuret Solution = CuSO4 + NaOH)

Put a sample of food in a test tube. Add 2cm3 Biuret solution and shake well. Observe the change in colour. o If the colour stays blue, there is no protein in the food. o If the colour changes to purple or mauve then there is protein in food.

Fats:

(Ethanol emulsion test)

Put a small food sample in a dry test tube. Add a little absolute ethanol. Shake well so that any food can dissolve in alcohol. Put the test tube in a rack and leave it to settle. Take some distilled water in another tube and put in it the mixture of food and ethanol from the first tube. (Be careful not to pour any un dissolved food) Observe the mixture of distilled water and ethanol. o If it stays clear, then there is no fat in the food. o If it turns cloudy white then fat is present.