BIOLOGY 100 2.

ALDOSE
i. Contains terminal aldehyde group
QUALITATIVE TESTS OF CARBOHYDRATES in addition to R group containing
–OH.
■ Carbohydrates are the key source of energy
used by living things. H O
C
■ Also serve as extracellular structural elements
H C OH
as in cell wall of bacteria and plant.
HO C H
■ Carbohydrates are defined as the polyhydroxy
aldehydes or polyhydroxy ketones. H C OH

■ Most but not all carbohydrate have a formula H C OH

CH2OH
■ (CH2O)n (hence the name hydrate of carbon)
D-glucose
■ In human body, the D-glucose is used.
SOLUBILITY
■ Simple sugars ends with –ose
 Monosaccharide and disaccharide can be
dissolved freely in water because water is a
polar substance, while polysaccharide cannot
CLASSIFICATION be dissolved easily in water, because, it has
high molecular weight, which give colloidal
1. SIMPLE SUGAR (ONE UNIT) solutions in water soluble.
i. MONOSACCHARIDES
Only one monosaccharide
unit BARFOED’S TEST
2. COMPLEX SUGAR (MORE THAN ONE)
i. DISACCHARIDES OBJECTIVE
Contain two monosaccharide
units  To distinguish between mono-, di- and
ii. OLIGOSACCHARIDES polysaccharides.
Contain three to nine
monosaccharide units PRINCIPLE
iii. POLYSACCHARIDES
 Barfoed’s test used copper (II) ions in a
Can contain more than nine
slightly acidic medium.
monosaccharide units
= This test is performed to distinguish between
= Complex carbohydrates can be broken down into
reducing monosaccharides, reducing disaccharides
smaller sugar units through a process known as
and non-reducing disaccharides.
HYDROLYSIS.
= Reducing monosaccharides are oxidized by the
copper ion in solution to form a carboxylic acid and
MONOSACCHARIDE a reddish precipitate of copper (I) oxide within
three minutes. Reducing disaccharides undergo
CLASSIFICATIONS (acc. to no. of carbon atoms) the same reaction, but do so at a slower rate.

1. TRIOSES (3) = The non-reducing sugars give negative result.

2. TETROSES (4)
3. PENTOSES (5) = Barfoed’s reagent, cupric acetate in acetic acid,
4. HEXOSES (6) so in acidic medium, disaccharide is a weaker
5. HEPTOSES (7) reducing agent than monosaccharide, so
monosaccharide will reduce the copper in less time.
OTHER FORM OF CLASSIFICATION

1. KETOSE
i. Contains a carbonyl group
attached to two R groups having one
or more hydroxyl groups.
SELIWANOFF’S TEST CONCLUSION

OBJECTIVE REDUCING SUGARS:

 To distinguish between aldose and ketone 1. Glucose

sucrose. 2. Galactose
3. Lactose
PRINCIPLE 4. Maltose
5. Fructose
 Seliwanoff’s Test uses 6M HCl as a
dehydrating agent and resoncinol as NON-REDUCING SUGARS
condensation reagent. The test reagent
dehydrates ketohexoses to form 5- 1. Sucrose
hydromethylfurfural. This further 2. Glycogen
condenses with resoncinol present in the 3. Starch
test reagent to produce a cherry red
product within two minutes. Aldohexoses = Sucrose did not give a positive result. The non-
react to form the same product, but do so reducing property of sucrose is due to its anomeric
more slowly giving a yellow to faint pink carbon which is not “free” since the carbon links
color. glucose and fructose together. This anomeric
carbon can’t open up the ring structure and react
= This test is used to distinguish between aldoses with NaOH, which is the reagent.
(like glucose) and ketoses (like fructose)
= Glycogen and starch did not react with the test
because they are polysaccharides, and all
polysaccharides are non-reducing sugars.
Therefore, their anomeric carbon is full and cannot
react to other molecules.

PROCEDURE

1. One half ml of a sample solution is placed in

a test tube.
2. Two ml of Seliwanoff's reagent (a solution of
resorcinol and HCl) is added.
3. The solution is then heated in a boiling
water bath for two minutes.

SUMMARY OF ALL TESTS

 NYLANDER’S TEST
 William Nylander (1866)
 To determine reducing and non-
reducing sugars.
 Black precipitate of metallic bismuth
 FEHLING’S TEST
 Herman von Fehling (1849)
 To determine reducing and non-
reducing sugars.
 To observe reactions in order to
distinguish aldehyde functional groups
from ketone functional groups by means
of the principles of the test.
 BARFOED’S TEST
 Christen Thomsen Barfoed
 To distinguish between reducing
monosaccharides, disaccharides and
non-reducing disaccharides.
 MOORE’S TEST
 To determine reducing and non-
reducing sugars
 Dark brown
 SELIWANOFF’S TEST
 Theodore Seliwanoff (1887)
 To distinguish between aldose and
ketone sugars.