CHAPTER-4

BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES

 Carbon, oxygen and hydrogen are present in all biological molecules. (Sometimes
nitrogen is present as well)
 Carbon atoms can join to form long chains or ring structures, so biological molecules can
be very large. They’re often built of repeating sub-units called monomers.
 When molecules are made of long chains of monomers held together by chemical bonds,
they are called polymers. E.g. polysaccharides and proteins.
 Molecules built of lots of small units often have different properties from their sub-units.

- Carbohydrates:
Contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
E.g. glucose (C6H12O6)
*Two molecules of glucose make one molecule of maltose (C12H22O11).
Sugars with a single carbon ring are called monosaccharides, e.g. glucose. Those sugars
with 2 carbon rings are disaccharides e.g. maltose. Both of them are soluble in water.
Glycogen- large molecule. Food storage substance in many animal cells.
Starch- made of hundreds of glucose molecules joined to make long chains. It’s an
important storage substance in plant cells.
Cellulose- made of long chains of glucose molecules joined together to make
microscopic fibres which are laid down in layers to make the cell wall in plant cells.
*all these three molecules aren’t very soluble in water.

- Fats:
When fats are liquid they’re known as oils. Fats and oil are made up of carbon, hydrogen
and oxygen. A fat molecule is made of 3 molecules of fatty acid and one molecule of
glycerol.
Fats form part of cell membrane and the internal membranes of the cell. Droplets of fat or
oil form a source of energy when stored in the cytoplasm.

- Proteins:
Some proteins are part of the structures in the cell.
Enzymes are also made up of proteins. Enzymes are present in the membrane systems, in
the mitochondria, in special vacuoles and in the fluid part of the cytoplasm. Enzymes
control the chemical reactions that keep the cell alive.
 All types of proteins contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, and might contain
sulfur.
Protein molecules are made of chains of amino acids. There are about 20 different amino
acids in animal cells.

Cells can build up (synthesize) or break down their proteins, fats and carbohydrates, or
change one to another.

- Structure of DNA:
DNA- polymer made of nucleotides, formed into 2 strands.
Nucleotide- (phosphate+ nitrogen base+ sugar) 5-carbon sugar molecule joined to
phosphate group (-PO3) and an organic base.
In DNA, the sugar is deoxyribose and the organic nitrogen base is either adenine,
thymine, cytosine or guanine.
The DNA in a chromosome is made of two strands (chains of nucleotides) held together
by chemical bonds between the bases.

FOOD TESTS-
- Starch:
Shake a small amount of starch powder in a test tube with some warm water. This will
make starch suspension.
Add 3 or 4 drops of iodine solution.
A blue-black color should appear.

- Reducing sugar (glucose):

Heat 2 cm3 of glucose solution with an equal volume of Benedict’s solution in a test tube.
Place the test tube in a beaker of boiling water to heat it, or warm it in a water-bath.
The solution will change color from blue to cloudy green to yellow and finally to a red
precipitate of copper oxide because glucose is a reducing sugar.

- Protein/ biuret test:

Place 2 cm3 of 1% of albumen solution in a test tube. Add 2 cm3 of dilute sodium
hydroxide followed by 2 cm3 1% copper sulfate.
Purple color will indicate presence of protein.
- Test for fat:
Shake two drops of cooking oil with about 5 cm3 ethanol in a dry test tube until the fat
dissolves.
Pour the solution into a test tube containing a few cm3 water. A milky white emulsion
will form. This proves the results are positive.

- Test for vitamin C

Suck 2 cm3 fresh lemon juice into a plastic syringe
Place 2 cm3 of a 0.1% solution of DCPIP in a test tube, add lemon juice drop by drop.
The DCPIP will become colorless quite suddenly as the juice is added.
Make a note of the amount of juice added from the syringe.
Repeat the experiment using orange juice in the syringe. If it takes more orange juice than
lemon juice to decolorize the DCPIP, the orange juice must contain less vitamin C.

Application of food tests:

Crush the solid samples in a mortar and shake with warm water to get a solution or
suspension.
Pour small amounts of the watery mixture into several test tubes.

To test samples for fats, the food must first be crushed in ethanol not water and then
filtered. Pour the clean filtrate into water, milky white color indicates fats’ presence.