Lab: Nutrient in food

Jennifer Silva
D-block
Mr. Louis
December 13, 2013


All organisms must take in nutrients in order to survive and grow. There are two classes of
macromolecules that Humans must take in, organic and inorganic and both are necessary for
normal metabolic processes. Organic macromolecules include protein, carbohydrates and lipids.
These nutrients are generally obtained from plant and animal sources. Now inorganic
macromolecules include, vitamins and minerals; and both are obtained from plant and animal
sources. Water is an essential inorganic nutrient that is found in all food. A way to measure the
amount of energy a food produces when its burned is by using a calorimeter; and the energy
content of food is the calorie. Humans take about 60% of carbohydrate. So this means that
Carbohydrates are the preferred sources of energy by the human organisms. Lipids provide a
second source of energy used by the body for metabolic processes; they also serve an important
functional role as structural components in cell membrane, for the synthesis of lipoproteins, and
hormones. They are also used to cushion the body organs against injury and insulate the body from
cold. Protein is the least proffered source of energy to the body because theyre a little harder to
work with. Therefore its used for metabolic purposes, rather than as an energy source. The human
body requires 20 amino acids in order to function properly; sadly, our body only makes 12 amino
acids therefore the other 8 must be consumed in the daily diet. Vitamins are essential inorganic
macromolecules necessary in small quantities to maintain growth and metabolism. Water is an
inorganic nutrient; its the most abundant substance found in an organism. Water transports solid,
liquid and gases throughout the body. It absorbs and transports heat which help humans maintain
homeostasis.
Determine the presence or absence of
nutrients
Test different types of food and figure out
whether you should consume more/ less of it.
Learn more about the nutrients humans need
to consume daily in order to maintain a
balanced diet

Lab: Nutrient in food




Lab: Nutrient in food





Lettuce
Apple
Fried chicken
Cheese it
Muffin
Rice and beans
Potato chips
Fiber one bar
Mango
Ham
Popcorn
Cheese
Peanut butter
Plantain chips
Orange

Doritos
Peanut butter cookie

1. Place 2 ml of ground-up food in a test tube.
2. Add 3 ml of water to the food and mixed it
thoroughly.
3. Add 10 drops of Biuret solution.
a. Biuret is an indicator. The biuret test gives a
pink to purple reaction in the presence of
protein.
b. No color change occurs in the absence of
protein.
4. Record your result in the data table.
1. Place 2 ml of ground-up food in a test tube
2. Place add 3ml of water to the food and mixed it thoroughly.
3. Add 5 drops of Lugold iodine solution.
a. Lugols iodine is an indicator. The lugols test turns
bluish black in the presence of starch.
b. No color change occurs in the absence of starch.
4. Record your result in the data table.
1. Place 2 ml of ground-up food in a test tube
2. Place add 3ml of water to the food and mixed it
thoroughly.
3. Add 10 drops of Benedicts solution.
4. Place the test tube in the beaker of boiling water, and
heat it for 5 minutes
a. Benedicts is an indicator. The benedicts test
shows an orange or brick red color in the
presence of glucose and green color in the
presence of sucrose
5. Record your result in the data table.
1. Rub a drop of ground-up food on a piece of brown paper
2. Allow excess water to evaporate. Use heat if necessary.
3. Hold the paper up to the light
4. Fats and oil make a translucent greasy spot paper.
5. No translucent greasy spot appears in the absence of fats
and oils
6. Record your result in the data table.
1. Place 2 ml of ground-up food in a test tube
2. Place add 3ml of water to the food and mixed it
thoroughly.
3. Add 8 drops of indophenols solution.
a. Indophenol is an indicator. Blue indophenols
becomes colorless in the presence of vitamin C.
Disregard the intermediate pink stage
b. No color change occurs in the absence of vitamin C.
4. Record you result in the data table.



Lab: Nutrient in food


Food Protein Starch Lipids Glucose/Sucrose Vitamin C

Prediction Result Prediction Result Prediction Result Prediction Result Prediction Result
Lettuce
+ - - - - - - +G - +
Apple
- - + - - - + +G + +
Fried
Chicken
+ - - + + + + - - -
Cheese it
- - - - + + + +G - -
Muffin
+ - - - + - - +G - -
Rice/beans
+ + - + + + - - - -
Ham
+ + - - - + - - - -
Potato
Chips
- - - + - - - +G - -
Mango
- - - + - - + +G + +
Fiber 1 Bar
+ - + + + - + +G - -
Popcorn
+ - + - + + + +G - -
Cheese
- + - - + + + +G + -
Doritos
+ - + + + + + +G - -
Peanut
butter
cookies
+ - - + + - + +G - -
Plantain
chips
+ - + + + + + - - -
Peanut
butter
+ + - + + + + - - -
Orange
- - - - - - + + + +






Some of the results matched my prediction but some of them were off. After testing the
nutrients in muffin, peanut butter cookie and rice and beans I was surprised with my results. The
result of the nutrients in muffin was very surprising because I thought it would have starch because
muffins are made of flour but it didnt. For peanut butter cookie, I predicted that it wouldnt have
starch since it has peanut, but it did; probably because it also had flour in it. I was also surprised
with my result for rice and beans, since they were mixed my solution had both protein and starch;
protein from the beans and starch from the rice. Out of all the food that I tested some foods that
human can use as a source of protein are cheese, fried chicken, rice and beans, ham and peanut
butter. Human can get starch from fried chicken, rice and beans, potato chips, peanut butter, fiber 1
bar, plantain chips, Doritos and peanut butter cookie. Also fats and oil can be obtained from foods
like fried chicken, cheese-it, rice and beans, ham, cheese, peanut butter, plantain chips, popcorn and
Doritos. Now humans can get sugar from lettuce, apple, cheese-it, muffin, potato chips, cheese, fiber
Lab: Nutrient in food

















Fats, Oil &
Sweets
Meat, nuts,
beans
(protein)
Cheese
(Protein)
Fruits
Vegetables
Carbohydrates
muffin & rice



Lab: Nutrient in food



In this lab I learned that by adding a specific reagents to
given food items, you can test for the presence of a particular
nutrien. Form my observations, I leaned that the
concentreation of nutrients varies from food. Foods high in
glucose and starch such as fruits, vegetables, breads and cereal
seem to be good source of energy. Also, foods high in prottein,
such as meats and eggs, seem to be good source of energy as
well and a requirement for effeciten metabolisdm and building
of cellls. Foods that have all the major nutrients are not
necessarily the most optimal choice of an energy souce. Finally,
I learned that certain aspects of a food, such as color, could
infere or hinder reagent activity when teating for specific
nutrients and it is important to test each indicator using water
as the negative control because whater font have any nutirent
so it balances it out
1 bar, oranges, mangos, popcorn, Doritos and peanut butter cookies. All together none of the foods I
tested contained all of the nutrients humans need to consume on a daily basic. This means that you
have to eat different food in order to get all the nutrients you need to be healthy and have a
balanced diet.