Title:

Detecting Compounds Made by Living Things

Objective:
To determine the presence of sugars, carbohydrates, protein and fats in various food samples.
Materials/Apparatus
Iodine solution, starch solution, glucose solution, Fehlings solution I, Fehlings solution II,
dilute Hydrochloric (0.1M), Millons Reagent, vegetable oil, Sudan III, soya bean, peanuts,
milk, onions, potatoes, test tubes, Pasteur pipettes, filter paper
Sample
Starch
Glucose
Sucrose Test tube HCl
A
Without
Test tube B HCl
Results

Results
Blue-black
precipitate
Orange-brown
precipitate Results
Green
Red
Blue
colour
Colourless

Conclusion
Starch is present
Reducing sugar is present
Conclusion
Reducing sugar
is
present
Protein is present
Reducing sugar
is absent
Protein
is absent

Table 1: Test for carbohydrates

Table 2: Test for proteins
Table 3: Test for lipids
Sample
Vegetable
Sudan III
Oil
Filter paper

Results
Red
Translucent spot is formed

Table 4: Iodine Test

Tube
1
2

Substance
Soya bean
Peanut

3
4
5

Milk
Onion
Potato

Conclusion
Fat is present
Fat is present

Colour
Yellowish-brown
Blue-black
precipitate
Yellowish-brown
Yellowish-brown
Blue-black
precipitate

Starch Present?
No
Yes

Table 5: Fehlings Test

Tube
Substance

Colour

1
2
3
4
5

Purple
Purple
Orange
Light brown
Orange

Reducing sugar
Present?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Colour
Red
Red

Protein Present?
Yes
Yes

Soya bean
Peanut
Milk
Onion
Potato

Table 6: Millons Test

Tube
Substance
1
Soya bean
2
Peanut

No
No
Yes

3
4
5

Milk
Onion
Potato

Table 7: Sudan III test

Tube
Substance
1
Soya bean
2
Peanut
3
Milk
4
Onion
5
Potato

Red
Red
Red

Yes
Yes
Yes

Colour
Pinkish
Red
Pinkish
Orange
Red

Fat Present?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Discussion
The Iodine test is used to test for the presence of starch. Iodine solution reacts with starch to
produce a purple-black colour. In this experiment, some starch solution was tested with
iodine solution and at the end of the experiment, a blue-black precipitate was present,
indicating the presence of starch. Peanut and potato was also tested positive for the presence
of starch.
The Fehlings test is commonly used for reducing sugars. The colour of Fehlings solution is
blue due to the presence of Cu2+ ions. A positive test is indicated by a green suspension and a
red precipitate. In this experiment, glucose solution was tested using the Fehlings solution I
and Fehlings solution II. At the end of the experiment, there was an orange-brown precipitate
present, indicating the presence of a reducing sugar. Sucrose solution was also tested for the
presence of reducing sugar. Two test tubes with sucrose solution were prepared but HCl was
added into one while none was added into the other. The function of the HCl is to break up
the sucrose. The sucrose solution with the presence of HCl came back positive for the
presence of reducing sugar while the sucrose solution without the presence of HCl came back
negative for the presence of reducing sugar. All the other food samples (Soya bean, peanut,
milk, onion, and potato) also tested positive with various colour changes (example: purple,
orange and light brown) for the presence of reducing sugars.
Millons Test uses Millons reagent which is an analytical reagent used to detect the presence
of soluble proteins. If protein is present, the Millons reagent will turn red with heating. Two
test tubes, test tube A and test tube B were prepared. Bovine serum albumin was added into
test tube A with distilled water while test tube B has distilled water only. The results ended up
positive for the presence of protein in test tube A as the mixture turned red. As for the food
samples, all food samples (soya bean, peanut, milk, onion and potato) were tested positive for
the presence of protein.
Sudan III is a fat-soluble dye that stains lipids red. Using Sudan III can show the amount and
the location of lipids. In this experiment, vegetable oil was tested with Sudan III and the
results were the oil turned red. This shows the presence of fats in vegetable oil. A drop of
vegetable oil was put on a filter paper and observed. A translucent spot was formed,
indicating the presence of fats. All the food samples (soya bean, peanut, milk, onion and
potato) also tested positive for the presence of fat.

Conclusion
Starch is present in peanut and potato while reducing sugar, protein and fat are present in
soya bean, peanut, milk, onion and potato.

Questions
1. Explain why all sugar-containing materials do not show a positive test for sugar when
tested with Fehlings solution.
This is because the table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a
disaccharide. Only monosaccharides and some disaccharides have a free aldehyde group
which consequently will react to give a positive Fehlings test. Sucrose does not have free
aldehyde group making it a non-reducing sugar. Only reducing sugars give a positive result
towards the Fehlings solution while non-reducing sugars (ex: sucrose) give a negative result
towards the Fehlings solution.
2. Do any of the foods tested have more than one compound present?
Yes. All food tested has more than one compound present. Soya bean, milk and onion has
reducing sugar, protein and fat present. Peanut and potato has starch, reducing sugar, protein
and fat present.
3. What is the practical value of food testing?
One of the practical value of food testing is to know what the content in our food is. It is
helpful to know how much fat, protein and sugar are in foods so that one gets enough of
certain things and others don't eat too much of things such as fat that aren't healthy in excess.
There are also allergies that some people must be careful about, an example being lactose
intolerance.
Reference
1. Wikipedia
23/01/2015
2. chem.uwimona.edu.jm
22/01/2015