EXPERIMENT 1.

Sugar Concentration
Introduction
Carbohydrates are organic compounds which are hydrates of carbon. They are the most abundant biomolecules on
earth and an important source of energy. The simplest unit of carbohydrates is monosaccharides which cannot be
simplified into simpler sugars by hydrolysis. Disaccharides contain two sugar units, trisaccharides have three,
oligosaccharides usually have three(3) to ten(10) and polysaccharides have complex polymers. Determining the
sugar content of food is important in studying the foods nutritional value, structure, stability, and sensory
characteristics. Sugar concentration can be done using two methodsthe Anthrone method and the Brix method.
However, only the Brix method was used in the experiment. (Valclavik & Christian, 2014)
The Anthrone method uses the principle that in acidic conditions most carbohydrates react with anthrone (9,10dihydro-9-oxoanthracene). Acids and sugar produces furfural and methyl furfural reacts with the anthrone to form a
blue/green color. The intensity of the color is measured by spectrophotometry (Nollet, 2004).
Brix method uses a refractometer, which is an instrument that measures aqueous concentration by the light refracted
by the liquid. The movement of light depends on the content of the medium it is in and thus depends on its
concentration. The bending of light is called the refraction, in which its angle is also called the refractive index of
the solution. The higher the angle of refraction indicates the higher the concentration of the solution. The instrument
is in Brix values (Shachman, 2004). The Brix scale is calibrated to the number of grams of sugar in 100mL water
such that the reading is equal to the sugar concentration.
Results and discussion
For the Brix method using a refractometer, a drop of sample was put in the sample holder and the adjustment knob
was adjusted so that a sharp boundary line can be observed. The sugar concentrations of the samples were recorded
in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1. Sugar Concentration of food sample
Sample
Sugar Content (Brix)
Maple syrup
76
Vanilla
3
Mango juice
14
Fresh milk
13
Fish sauce
0
Cane vinegar
3
Maple syrup showed the highest sugar concentration. Fish sauce has the lowest and no sugar content. It can be
noticed that the samples also differed greatly in density. It is because the refractometer actually depends on the
density of the sample. It can also be observed that their sugar concentration is related to their viscosity and
opaqueness. This indicates that the sugar content affects the structure, appearance and stability of food.
!!!!!!!!!Conclusion na din yon last paragraph^

Nollet, L. M. (2004). Handbook of Food Analysis: Physical Characterization and Nutrient Analysis, Volume 1. New
York: Marcel Dekker.
Shachman, M. (2004). The Soft Drinks Companion: A Technical Handbook for the Beverage Industry. Boca Raton,
FL: CRC Press.
Vaclavik, V. A., & Christian, E. W. (2014). Essentials of Food Science. New York: Springer.