Testing for Nutrients in Food Lab
Testing for Nutrients in Food
Problem/Question:
To test for the presence of sugar, starch, protein, and lipids in various food.
Hypothesis:
Our hypotheses are shown in the prediction section of the chart in which we recorded data. We based our hypotheses on previous knowledge of nutrition content in foods and recent things we learned in class.
Theory:
A balanced diet is important in everyone's health. It is necessary to eat a variety of foods in order to obtain sufficient quantities of the needed vitamins and minerals, such as sugars, starches, lipids, and proteins.
The four food groups help us determine how much of each type of food is necessary in a healthy diet.
Materials:
· Test tube rack
· Test tubes
· Beaker
· Hot plate
· Bunsen Burner
· Paper towels
· Test tube holder
· Goggles
Procedure:
Sugar Test:
For the sugar test we added approximately 5ml of water to a small test tube and then added a small sample of the food to be tested. Then, we added 5 drops of Benedicts reagent and heated this mixture in a beaker on a hot plate or over a Bunsen burner. Yellow or orange was indicative of various levels of sugar content.
Starch Test:
We took a small sample of the food to be tested and placed 3 drops of iodine on it. If it turned a purple or black then starch was present.
Protein Test:
We added approximately 5ml of water to a small test tube and then added a small sample of the food to be tested. Then, we added 5 drops of Biuret. If the mixture turned a purple in color then protein was present.
Lipid:
We applied a small sample of each food to be tested to a brown paper bag. We held the bag up to the light and to see if the bag had become somewhat transparent. If it had, then lipids are present.
Data: (see attached)
Data Analysis:
We found that carrots do not have sugar, starch, protein or lipids. Saltine crackers have minimal sugar have starch but do not have lipids. Boost Nutritional Drink has sugars proteins but lacks starches and lipids. Kudos bars have sugar, proteins and lipids but has no starches. Egg whites have only protein and lipids. Apples have lipids and proteins only. Peanut butter has sugar, protein, and lipids, but no starch according to our tests.
Food Test Sugar Test Starch Test Protein Test Lipid Test
Prediction Results Prediction Results Prediction Results Prediction Results
Carrot YES NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
Cracker NO Small YES YES NO NO NO NO
Boost YES Simple NO NO YES YES NO NO
Kudos YES YES YES NO NO YES YES YES
Egg White NO NO NO NO YES YES YES YES
Apple YES Lots YES NO NO NO NO YES
Peanut Butter YES YES NO NO YES YES YES YES
Conclusion:
Our hypotheses were correct approximately 75% of the time. This shows that we did have some previous knowledge regarding the nutritional content of the foods we tested. This...