Biological molecules or

the chemicals of life

with the name “biological molecules” we called all the molecules that
compose a living organism and are produced by the organisms
themselves

carbohydrates or sugars

proteins

fats or lipids
• those substances are what our cells are made of. Each of
them is vital for life.

• Biological molecules are composed mainly by Carbon,

Hydrogen and Oxygen with small amounts of Nitrogen,
Sulfur and Phosphorous.

• every living organism need them for metabolism that is

all the chemical reactions that occur in every cell of the
body
Plants make their own food by photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide
and water react together in the presence of light and chlorophyll
to make glucose and oxygen. The glucose is converted into
starch, fats and oils for storage. It is used to make cellulose for
cell walls, and proteins for growth and repair. It is also used by the
plant to release energy by respiration.
• animals eat plants, animals eat animals.. therefore the first molecules
produced by plants pass through the entire cicle of life
• carbohydrates are composed by C, H and O. They include
starch and sugars. Sugars store energy

simple sugars chemical bonds complex sugars

glucose sucrose starch glycogen

cellulose chitin
• fats, also known as lipids. A fat molecule is composed by four smaller molecules joined
together: one molecule of glycerol attached to three molecules of fatty acids. fats are used as
energy storage and also to protect animals from cold.

Fats are insoluble in

water. When they are
liquid at room
temperature they are
called oils
• Proteins are also composed by C, H, O but they also have
Nitrogen and Sulfur in their structure. Proteins are made
by smaller units called amino acids . Proteins are made by
long chains of amino acids. These chains can curl up into
different shapes.

• We know about 20 different kind of amino acids. They

join together in a peptidic bond typical of proteins
chemical tests for biological
molecules
testing starch

starch presence is tested by adding

a iodine solution to a sample of the food.

if there is starch present, a blue-

black colour is obtained.
If there is no starch, the iodine
solution remains orange-brown
 testing for carbohydrates or
reducing sugars.
Benedict’s solution
simple sugars are
is a blue solution that can
composed by be used to check the presence
just one molecule (ex of simple sugars in food
glucose)
while if there is more
than one molecule,
so we talk about
complex sugars (like
sucrose : glucose +
fructose)
 testing for fats and oils
one of the best test for fats
is the ethanol
emulsion test. So add some
lipids to ethanol
and shake it. Although fats
will not dissolve in
water, they do dissolve in
ethanol. Next, pour in
some water: if there was
any fat in the food, then
a cloudy, white emulsion
will form. If there is no
fat, the mixture of ethanol
and water
remains transparent
 test for proteins

the test for protein is called the

Biuret test. This involves mixing
the food in water and then adding
dilute copper sulfate solution (which
is blue) . A purple colour indicates
the presence of proteins.
 testing for vitamin C

vitamin C is present
in juices in general, such
as orange juice or lemon
juice .. A reagent called
DCPIP is used to control
the presence of vitamin C
in food. It is a blue liquid
that loses its colour when it
reacts with vitamin C