Name:

McMush Lab: Identifying Organic Compounds

Background:
The most common organic compounds found in living organisms are lipids, carbohydrates, proteins,
and nucleic acids. Common foods, which often consist of plant materials or substances derived from animals,
are also combinations of these organic compounds. It is very important to realize that all of the organisms on
earth use all of the biomolecules in their cells.
Scientists have developed some useful tests that can help us detect the presence of some of the
biomolecules in food. Simple chemical tests with substances called indicators can be conducted to determine
the presence of organic compounds. A color change of an indicator is usually a positive test for the presence of
an organic compound.
In this investigation, you will use several indicators to test for the presence of lipids, carbohydrates,
and proteins in a Happy Meal, a.k.a. McMush when the food is blended together. It is important to note that
some foods may contain several or all of the biomolecules being tested, while others contain only one. As
mentioned above, all cells contain all of these biomolecules, but some cells contain very high amounts of just
one or two of them. The tests we will use will only pick up high amounts of each biomolecule.

Pre-lab:

Biomolecule Test Reagent Positive Result Negative Result

Lipids N/A

Carbohydrates -
Monosaccharides Benedict’s solution
Sugars, simple form

Carbohydrates -
Polysaccharides Iodine solution
Starches, complex form

Proteins Biuret solution

 I. Purpose:
The student will use different chemical indicators to test for the presence of lipids, proteins,
carbohydrates (starch), and carbohydrates (sugar).

II. Hypothesis:

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

○ Goggles must be worn at all times, these are dangerous chemicals.
○ Keep the chemicals off of skin. If skin contact occurs, wash immediately.
○ Read all labels carefully. If accidental heating of the wrong material occurs, an explosion could
occur.
○ Be careful working with the boiling water. Test tubes will get very hot and should only be
handled with test tube holders.
III. Experiment:
○ Materials: hot plate, two test tubes, test tube holder, test tube rack, blended Happy Meal,
brown paper, droppers, spot plate, distilled water, Biuret solution, Benedict’s solution, Iodine
solution
○ Procedure for crushing up foods so that they can be tested):
1. The teacher will place each food in a beaker. If it needs to be blended, then the teacher
will do so. When this step is completed, all of the foods should be in a liquid or semi-
liquid form.

○ Procedure for testing for lipids (fats):

1. Obtain brown paper.
2. On a towel, using a pen or pencil, draw 2 circles, making each circle with a 1 inch
diameter.
3. Place one drop of water in one of the circles, place one drop of McMush in the other
circle.
4. Rub each drop gently into the paper.
5. Set aside the brown paper to dry, continue with the rest of the lab.
6. Once the drops are dry, hold the paper up to the light and try to look through the drops.
If the drop appears to be transparent or still very wet looking, then the food was high in
fat or oil.
7. Record the results in Data Table 1.

○ Procedure for testing for carbohydrates (sugars *monosaccharides*- simple form) using
Benedict’s solution:
1. Set up a hot water bath by filling a beaker 1/3 full of water. Place the beaker on the hot
plate and heat to a gentle boil.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, fill a test tube 1-inch full with distilled water, fill a
test tube with 1-inch of McMush.
3. Add 7 drops of Benedict’s solution to each test tube and gently swirl to mix.
4. Once the water is gently boiling, place the test tubes in the water bath for
approximately 3 minutes.
5. Remove the test tubes from the water bath using the test tube holder and place the test
tubes in the test tube rack.
6. Observe the color of the liquid in the test tubes, record the results in Data Table 1.

○ Procedure for testing for carbohydrates (starches *polysaccharides*- complex form) using
Iodine solution:
1. Add 10 drops of distilled water in a test tube, add 10 drops of McMush in a test tube.
2. Add 5 drops of Iodine solution to each test tube and gently swirl to mix.
3. Observe the color of the liquid in the test tubes, record your results in Data Table 1.

○ Procedure for testing for protein using Biuret solution:

***DO NOT HEAT BIURET SOLUTION, IT WILL EXPLODE***
1. Add 10 drops of distilled water to a test tube, add 10 drops of McMush to a test tube.
2. Add 10 drops of Biuret solution to the test tubes and gently swirl the test tubes.
3. Observe the color of the liquid in the test tubes, record your results in Data Table 1.
 ○ Procedure for cleaning up:
1. Dispose of the McMush in the designated trash can.
2. Wash out test tubes using soap and water and place test tubes upside down to dry.
3. Unplug the hot plate and wash the beaker.
4. Wipe off lab tables and return goggles to the cabinet.

IV. Observations:
Data Table 1
Lipid Test
Distilled water McMush
Spot? Lipids Spot? Lipids
No Spot? present? No Spot? present?

Carbohydrates - Monosaccharides Test

Sugars, simple form
Distilled water McMush
Benedict Sugar Benedict Sugar
color? present? color? present?

Carbohydrates - Polysaccharides Test

Starches, complex form
Distilled water McMush
Iodine Starch Iodine Starch
color? present? color? present?

Protein Test
Distilled water McMush
Biuret Protein Biuret Protein
color? present? color? present?

***Conclusion on next page***

V. Conclusion: These are guiding questions and meet the minimum requirements for a proficient in
mastery...
What are biomolecules and where can they be found?
What is the purpose of testing water, along with McMush?
Make a claim that summarizes which biomolecules were present in McMush.
Using data collected from this experiment, provide evidence that supports this claim.
Using background knowledge and data from this lab, provide Reasoning that uses the evidence to
justify the claim.