BENEDICTS TEST

Benedicts Test: Test for Sugars

Specific objective: To detect the presence of reducing sugars through a visible positive result of
formation of brick red precipitate from each sample.
*Color of reagent: BLUE
- This is a chemical reagent named after an American chemist, Stanley Rossiter Benedict.
- This is a test to detect reducing sugars in a solution via oxidation reduction reaction.
- A reducing sugar is a carbohydrate possessing either a free aldehyde or free ketone functional
group as part of its molecular structure
- Reducing sugars are oxidized by the copper ion in solution to form a carboxylic acid and
reddish precipitate of copper (I) oxide.
- Since they reduce the Cu2+ Cu+ - the function of this reagent is to oxidize the presence of
the aldehyde - ketone group in a sugar solution.
- Like the Fehlings test, a positive result is indicated by the formation of brick red precipitate.
- The composition of this reagent is copper sulfate in alkaline citrate.
SAMPLES
Glucose
Sucrose
Lactose
Fructose

OBSERVATIONS
Brick red ppt
No change
Brick red ppt
Brick red ppt

Benedicts Test: Test for Urine

Specific Objective: To test the glucose concentration of the different urine samples relying to the
given table of glucose concentration. To know the reaction of the Benedicts reagent to a
reducing sugar.
-

The reagent would oxidize the reducing sugars and determine their glucose concentration
as the table shows:

The different color would be observed as how much the concentration of the urine
sample tested.
Would form a white precipitate, indication that sugars are present in the urine tested.
It is determined by their amount of Amylase activity containing AMYLOSE - a
glucose polymer which have Up to 1000 glucose unit; no branching

GUIDE QUESTIONS:
-

A. What is the principle involved in the Benedicts test?

The principle involved in Benedicts test is REDOX/Oxidation Reaction

B. What is the purpose of the test?

- This is a test to detect reducing sugars in a solution
C. What components make up the Benedicts test? State the function of each
component.
- Benedict's solution contains copper (II) ions complexed with citrate ions in sodium
carbonate solution. Again, complexing the copper (II) ions prevents the formation of a
precipitate - this time of copper (II) carbonate.

D. Provide the equation in this test

RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BRICK RED PPT

E. Sample equation involved in the reaction between the Benedicts reagent and your
sample/s which gave positive result

LACTOSE

F. Provide an explanation for:

F.1. Positive results obtained with your sample/samples

a. Glucose
Benedict solution is light blue because it contains copper sulfate. When it is mixed and heated
with a sugar, such as glucose, which has electrons available to donate, the copper will accept the
electrons and become reduced, which turns it to brick red. During this process, the blue copper
(II) ion is reduced to a red copper (I) ion. While the copper is being reduced, the glucose gives up
an electron and is oxidized. Because glucose is able to reduce the copper in Benedict solution,
we call it a reducing sugar.

b. Fructose
Fructose is a 6-carbon poly hydroxy ketone. It is an isomer of glucose, therefore they both have
the same molecular formula (C6H12O6) but they differ structurally.

These Disaccharide sugar contains two sugars that contain both aldehyde and a ketone as their
first carbon.
The ketone here undergoes Tautomerism which means that the ketone functional group
hydrolyzes first into an aldehyde and formed aldose. This makes the possibility to react the
sugar in the Benedicts reagent. And this property only happens to an alpha hydroxy ketone.

c. Lactose
Lactose will yield to a positive result because it is also a reducing sugar even though it comes
from the binding of a galactose and glucose, that makes it a disaccharide. And the Benedicts test
is a test for reducing sugars of monosaccharides and some of disaccharides.
F.2. Negative results obtained with your sample/s
a. Sucrose
Sucrose is a disaccharide derived from glucose and fructose. It has a molecular formula of
C12H22O11.

Because of glycosidic linkage, there is no presence of free aldehyde, which is a property of a

reducing sugar. This makes sucrose a non-reducing sugar, thus having no reaction with the
Benedicts reagent. However, a non-reducing sugar can be hydrolyzed using dilute hydrochloric
acid to convert the acetal or ketal into a hemiacetal or hemiketal. After hydrolysis and
neutralization of the acid, the product may be a reducing sugar that gives normal reactions with
the test solutions.

G. State the other advantages of using the Benedicts reagent instead of Fehlings
reagent.

H. Differentiate between the 3 kinds of urine samples: fasting, post-prandial and

random. Which sample is the MOST suitable for use in a clinical laboratory test?
Explain your choice.
Fasting sample 12hour urine without any food/drink ingestion.
Random- Just simple urine.
Post-prandial- The patient is given glucose water in a much diluted quantity and a blood test is
conducted after two to two and a half hours.
The fasting urine is the most suitable because it is the most natural urine that we excrete and it
is not yet mix with the chemicals etc. that we ingest.
I. What is Diabetes Mellitus? Differentiate between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Is it
possible to have sugar diabetes even if no member of your family has it? Explain
your answer

Diabetes mellitus is a kind of metabolic disease that is brought about by either the insufficient
production of insulin or the inability of the body to respond to the insulin formed within the
system.
Diabetes mellitus type 1 is caused by the loss of beta cells found in the islets of Langerhans in
the pancreas. Beta cells primarily produce insulin and hence, their loss will lead to huge insulin
deficiencies in the body. In most cases, the loss of the beta cells is caused by an autoimmune
attack mediated by the bodys own T-cells. Type 1 diabetes mellitus makes up 10% of all the
diabetes mellitus cases in Europe and in North America. Up until today, there have been no
preventive measures found for disease. Most of the patients who acquire this type of diabetes are
found in the younger populations. Because of this, Type 1 diabetes mellitus is also now known as
the juvenile diabetes.
Another type of diabetes mellitus is the type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is generally
characterized by the bodys resistance to insulin. This is primarily attributed to the loss of certain
insulin receptors in the tissues that are supposed to mediate the entrance of insulin into the
bodys cells. This particular kind of diabetes is the most common kind that afflicts most of the
reported cases of the disease. Type 2 diabetes usually leads to hyperglycemia which can be
treated by a series of medications that can either improve the bodys insulin sensitivity or
improve the livers production of insulin in the system.
The last major category of diabetes mellitus is the gestational diabetes. This type of diabetes
commonly occurs in pregnant women and may disappear or even progress right after delivery.
Gestational diabetes generally manifests the same kind of complication found in type 2 diabetes.
Just like in type 2 diabetes, the body also exhibits a resistance to insulin and can sometimes
produce insufficient amounts of the substance as well. This kind of diabetes is fully treatable but
may require very close monitoring.
And it is still possible to have a sugar diabetes even is not inherited. DM is also acquired when
were engaging in a poor lifestyle and abandoned our self in eating too much sweets.
J. Is one considered a diabetic if one obtains a positive result for sugar in a fasting
urine sample? Explain your answer.
No. Because only the amylase activity is the one that is tested on the urine sample. The test is not
that accurate. Maybe the test only reacts with the reducing sugar and not with the other sugar.
Sugar can appear in the urine even if blood sugar isn't high. Also, sugar in the urine doesn't
reveal how giant blood sugar is. Sugar in the urine can tip a doctor off that you may have
diabetes, but it's a really outdated method of detecting and monitoring diabetes.