Episcopal Diocese of Southern Philippines

BRENT HOSPITAL AND COLLEGES INCORPORATED

R.T. Lim Blvd., San Jose, Zamboanga City

BIOCHEMISTRY
(LAB)

Activity No. 1
Biological Chemistry
Exploring Carbohydrates

Name: _________________________Date:
KATELYN A. TOLEDO November 07, 2020

Year and Section: _______________Time

BSN 1 - I : 8:00am- 11:00 pm/2-5pm (Lab)

Materials:
 Teaspoon
 Sugar
 2 small beaker/glass cup
 ½ teaspoon cornstarch
 a slice of apple
 a slice of potato
 a slice of chicken meat
 30 mL Iodine solution
 Medicine dropper

Procedure:

1. Measure out one-half teaspoon of sugar into a small beaker or glass cup.
2. Measure out one-half teaspoon of cornstarch into a second small beaker or
glass cup.
3. Provide for yourself with a slice of apple, a slice of potato, and a slice of
chicken meat.
4. Add a drop of iodine solution to all five samples.
Documentation:

Before Applying Iodine Solution After Applying Iodine Solution

Sugar

Cornstarch

A slice apple
A slice of potato

A slice of chicken meat

Analysis:
1. In the presence of starch, iodine turns dark blue-black. Note which samples
test positive for starch.

Samples Presence Observation

of
Starch
(+ / - )
1. Slice of apple Negative  After applying the iodine solution
(-) as an indicator, the color did not
change which it’s still
yellow/orange.
2. Slice of potato Positive  After applying the iodine solution
(+) as an indicator, the color did
change into dark blue-black in just
seconds or a minute.
3. Slice of chicken Negative  After applying the iodine solution
meat (-) as an indicator, its color remains
the same which is yellow/orange.

2. Explain your observation for the following samples below;

.
2.1 Slice of apple

 The starch in apple after it was being test using iodine solution is not present
or lack of starch as it is already very ripe. According to (Nall, 2011), starch
hydrolyses into increasing amount of sugar as apple matures and the fruit
grows more savory because of its sweeter flavor. Also, according to
(blogs.ext.vt.edu, 2012), the iodine binds with starch granules in the fruit
and develops into a dark purple to almost black color. The less iodine
progression (the less intense color) you see, the riper fruit it is. Iodine test
for starch in apple is one example of how they determine whether the fruit is
applicable to harvest already base on the observation and result of color they
will get.

2.2 Slice of potato

 The potato simply means that it is rich in starch as it was being resulted
positive in iodine test for starch. The reason of the sudden changes of color
from yellow/brown into dark blue-black is because the amylose in starch is
the one who is responsible for the formation of it in the presence of iodine.
According to (Justice, 2020), the starch in potato and iodine are having
chemical reaction when the iodine detects the long, straight chains of sugars
in the starch, they link to each other and get twisted which results an
intensely colored starch-iodine complex form. According also to
(webexhibits.org, 2020), the starch forces the iodine into a threadlike
arrangement in the middle groove of the amylose coil. Some transfer of
charge occurs between the iodine and starch which it changes the electron
arrangements and hence the spacings between energy levels. The new
spacings occupy visible light selectively and give the complex its intense
 dark blue-black color. The effect can only be seen if both iodide as an ion
and iodine as an element are present.

2.3 Slice of chicken meat

 The presence of starch in chicken meat is negative because simply it does

not contain starch or sugar rather it has both protein and lipids. Protein is a
chain of amino acids and commonly found in animal source and lipids are
composed of fats and oils.

Conclusion:

 The iodine test is a conducted experiment in which it identifies the presence

of starch. The outcome of the result yielded glucose, galactose, sucrose,
lactose, in constant yellow color, and ribose in orange color as negative
indicators. Starch and iodine formed blue-black precipitate giving positive
outcome. After conducting the experiment, the potato resulted as positive
which the starch is present in it while the negative ones are chicken meat and
apple. The corn starch tested as positive also as it is containing a big amount
starch already while sugar is negative because the higher amount of sugar
contains in it than the starch.

Prepared by:
Ermelyn Legados-DC LPT
Biochem (Lab) Teacher