Shaqueena Benjamin: Grade Level: 10

Ms. Pentz

Problem: How do different types of food affect the Glycemic Index?

Hypothesis: I think foods that have no glucose will have a lower

glycemic index because the glycemic index is based on glucose levels
in foods. Based on what I have learned in school glucose is another
term for sugar. For example, hyperglycemia is a disease that is
characterized by having high levels of sugar in the blood.
I decided to do this project because of an interesting lesson I had
on Diabetes. I didn’t actually know what a glycemic index was until I
did the project but I was interested in what it was and how it affected
people’s health. I’m curious if starch or glucose will have a greater
affect on the glycemic index.
This project can benefit people with diseases such as diabetes.

Materials
1. Glucose indicator
2. Starch indicator
3. Hot plate
4. Foods
5. Blender
6. Test tubes
7. Water
8. Test tube holder
9. Ml measurer knife

Procedures
1. Determine which foods will be used.
 2. Use internet to determine the glycemic index for each food.
3. Blend foods one at a time with 1ml of water, cut off any skin the
food might have. Blend until the food is liquid and place 15ml of
the blended food into three test tubes. (One for control, the
second for starch indicator and the third for glucose indicator)
4. Test food with starch indicator. (Starch indicator is amber and if
it changes blue-black when applied to the food starch is present)
Put five drops of indicator on each food. Record results.
5. Test food with glucose indicator. Put 10drops of indicator in each
food. Heat the test tube with the food in it for three to five
minutes in a hot water bath. If the food changes to yellow,
orange or bright green glucose is present. Record results.
6. Repeat steps three through five for each food.

Results Of Starch And Glucose Testing:

Foods Glycemic Index Starch Present Glucose Present
Carrots 16 Positive * unsure
Cucumbers 63 Negative Positive
Broccoli 15 Negative Positive
Green Beans 15 Negative Positive
Lettuce 15 Negative Positive
Granny 40 Negative Positive
Smith Apple
Grapes 43 Negative Positive
Orange 48 Negative Positive
Banana 51 Negative Positive
Delicious 40 Positive Positive
Apple
Nectarine Negative Positive
Pepper 15 Negative Positive
Kiwi 58 Negative Positive
Lemon 54 Negative Negative
Potato 54 Positive Positive
Onion 67 Negative Positive

My hypothesis was not really supported by this experiment.The

data table helped me to compare the glycemic index to the
presence of starch and glucose. This was necessary for me to be
able to determine if foods that tested positive for glucose would
have higher numbers on the glycemic index than foods that
tested negative. I results are not what I expected. I thought there
would be more foods that tested negative for glucose than there
was. The data that was collected does not really show an
extreme difference between foods with glucose having lower
numbers on the glycemic index. There was only one food that
tested negative for glucose which was the lemon so I didn’t have
a big enough group of negative glucose results to compare the
positive glucose results to. Some possible sources of error was
the measurements and how much I blended each food. This
experiment could be improved my increasing the controlled
group which should be the foods that test negative for glucose.

My hypothesis was not supported by this experiment.