Experiment name : Microscopic examination of starches

Introduction:
Starch is only found in plants not in animals .Starches include amylose and amylopectin .
Starch can be found in thousands of plant species where its main function is energy
storage for the plant . High concentrations thus can be found in roots bulbs seeds, and
tubers of plants. All staple foods wheat, corn, rice, potatoes, cassava, etc are rich in
starch. Without exception starch occurs in granules. With the help of the microscope it is
possible to determine the source of the starch as the size and shape of starch granules
differ for each kind of starch.
Materials
Unripe banana, potato, taro, cassava
Kitchen knife
Microscope slides
Cover slips
Paper towels
Lugol Solution (Lugol solution is a solution of iodine and potassium iodide in
water and it is used as an indicator test for the presence of starches, with
which it reacts by turning a dark-blue/black.)
Tooth pick
Pasteur pipette
Method:
1. Smear a little (less than the size of a sesame seed) of an unripe green banana/potato
juice/taro/tapioca on a microscope slide to rub the cells apart.
2. Place a drop of Lugol solution on top of the banana smear.
3. Place a coverslip on top and remove the excess of solution with a tissue.
4. Place the slide on the microscope, with 4 x or 10x objective in position and find a
field of view containing the cells. Then view at higher magnifications.

Tapioca Potato Banana

Oval truncate Oval spherical Lenticular