SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

GENERAL SCIENCE Grade 7

SCIENCE LAB GUIDE N 4

How can we recognise the nutrition facts?

Global Context : Globalization & Sustainability
Criterion C: Processing &
Grade 7 Evaluating /8
Students name Year Group MYP Assessment Your Mark

1. Introduction

We can define nutrition as taking in of nutrients which are organic substances and mineral ions,
containing raw materials or energy for growth and tissue repair, absorbing and assimilating them.
Nutrition is one of the characteristics of living organisms. All organisms do it, they do it to
obtain energy for vital activities and raw materials needed for growth and repair.

Every Individual needs to take in a certain amount of each nutrient daily, depending on their
age, size, sex and activity.

There are 7 Types of nutrients, these are:

Carbohydrates Minerals
Proteins Roughages
Fats Water
Vitamins

Carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins are all organic substances. This means that they are
made by living organisms (plants) and contain carbon atoms in their structures. Plants make organic
substances from inorganic materials like carbon dioxide, water and inorganic minerals. Animals are
unable to do this (1).

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Carbohydrates:
This nutrient is an organic compound composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
It is used as an energy resource, essential in respiration to release energy.
It is used in creating the cellulose, the substance forming cell walls of plant cells.

a) Monosaccharides:
The smallest and simplest form
Water soluble
Chemical formula C6H12O6
Examples: Glucose-Fructose-Galactose
Sources: Fruits-Honey

b) Disaccharides:
Each molecule consists of two Monosaccharide joined together
Water soluble
Examples: Lactose-Sucrose-Maltose
Sources: Table sugar- Milk

c) Polysaccharides:
Each molecule has many joined monosaccharide forming a long chain.
Insoluble in water
Examples: Starch-Glycogen-Cellulose
Sources: Bread-Potatoes-Pasta, Cellulose in plant cells and Glycogen in livers.

Notes:
Monosaccharide and Disaccharides are sugars, they are reducing for Benedicts reagent, except
for the disaccharide sucrose, it is non-reducing.

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 Polysaccharides are not considered as sugars and dont have a sweet taste. Excess
polysaccharides are stored in the liver and muscles.

Proteins:
These are also organic compounds; they contain the elements Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen,
Nitrogen and sometimes Phosphorus or
Sulfur.
A molecule of protein is a long
chain of simpler units called amino acids.

These amino acids are linked

together by what's called peptide bond.

Types of protein:
a) Animal Protein: It contains the
most biological value because it contains all essential amino acids (Meat, Milk, Fish, Eggs
etc).
b) Plant Protein: It contains a lower biological value to humans because it contains fewer
essential amino acids (Cereals, Peas, Beans etc).
Needs of proteins:
Making and new body cells
Growth and repair
Making enzymes (they are proteins in nature)
Build up hormones
Making antibodies
Note: Although proteins are needed in high amounts, the body will only absorb as much as
needed, so excess protein is delaminated in the liver and excreted as urea.

Lipids (Fats):
These are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. But their ratios are different than that of
carbohydrates. One fat molecule is made of a glycerol unit and three molecules of fatty acids.

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Fats are essential in a diet because they are needed to:
Release high amounts of energy
Make cell membranes
Store them under the skin to insulate heat.
Forming a layer of fats around organs to protect them from damage
Storing energy (better than glycogen)
Note: When fats are respired, they produce about twice as much energy as carbohydrates.

2. Aim

Describe tests for:

o starch (iodine solution)
o protein (biuret test)
To determine qualitatively the presence of starch and proteins of different type of food.

3. Equipment and Material

Scalpel
Test tubes
Test tube rack
Glass rod
Spatula
Mechanical grinder or pestle and mortar
Dropping pipette
Eye protection
Food samples, fresh and cooked
Iodine in potassium iodine solution
Distilled water
Sodium hydroxide NaOH sodium

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 4. Procedure

Different kinds of food have been tested, but in each case only one class of food was being sought.
The type of investigation most likely to be under taken by a biologist is one in which a food sample is
tested for all possible classes of food.

A. Procedure of Iodine Solution test (to determine the presence of starch):

1. Take the samples and peel of their skin. You can take different samples as hot dogs, biscuits,
fruits or in vegetables, potato could be a great agent. Once you have chosen your thing, peel off
their skin, place them on a paper towel or in a test tube (depends the state of matter) and get
ready for the test.
2. Add on five drops of (brown) iodine solution on the tile and look for a colour change.
Positive: A blue-black colour indicates the presence of starch.

B. Procedure of Biuret Test (to determine the presence of proteins):

1. Place two grams of the sample in the mortar and crush it carefully, then place the crushed
sample in the test tube and add 10 ml of water and mix it.
2. CAREFULLY add ten drops of sodium hydroxide solution and shake it CAREFULLY.
3. Add 3-5 drops of copper sulphate solution to some protein solution in a test-tube.
(Take a great care as sodium hydroxide solution is corrosive)
Positive: If it turns purple there is protein inside.
Note: Is very IMPORTANT add the reagents in the correct order.

5. Safety considerations

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 Students need to be very careful when they use the Scalpel and the chemist.

6. Results

1. Draw your observation in the brackets bellow.

Iodine Solution Biuret Test

Food Sample
Blue / Black Purple
1. Picaras (sugar) Change

2. Rice Change

3. Cheese (chedar) No change No change

4. White egg No change No change

5. Biscuits Change

6. Spaghetti Change

7. Permasan No change No change

8. Wheath Change

9. Nachos Change

10. Grapes No change No change

11. Biscuits 2 Change

12. Garbanzos Change

13. Dehydrated apple Change

14. Chiken No change No change

15. Yolk No change No change

16. Nugget No change No change

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17. Cheese No change No change

18. Bread Change

19. Quesadilla Change

20. Milk 1 No change No change

21. Milk 2 Change to purple Change to purple

7. Conclusion, Discussion and Evaluation

In your Conclusion, Discussion and Evaluation you must include the following:

1. Describe the results obtained in the experiment in your response to the research question.

This is a simple test which shows colour changes in the solution. They range from no colour change
(blue) To pink to deep violet.
If it remain blue, not protein.
It colour change purple, protein are present

2. Describe the experimental difficulties and limitations you had during this practical.

The limitations of this experiment were the lack of food, the difficulty of grabbing the small food with
the clothespin and having our notebooks with paper as the basis of the food
8. References:
- Gareth Williams. (2014). Biology for You. United Kingdom. Oxford University Press.
- Xtremepapers.com. (2017). Nutrition - GCSE Biology Revision - XtremePapers | Advancing
knowledge is in our DNA. [online] Available at:
http://www.xtremepapers.com/revision/gcse/biology/nutrition.php [Accessed 4 Nov. 2017].

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- YouTube. (2017). Testing for the starches in food. [online] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YMDOX71TeI [Accessed 4 Nov. 2017].