Organic Compounds Laboratory

Biology Name____________________________________

Problem
How can we determine if a white substance is a carbohydrate or a lipid?
How can we determine if an unknown lipid is saturated or unsaturated?
What organic compound is Lugol’s iodine an indicator for?
What organic compound is Sudan stain an indicator for?
What organic compound is Biuret reagent an indicator for?

Safety
Use caution when handling hot materials. Remove beakers from hot plates using beaker tongs.

Materials & Procedure

In your groups, hypothesize an answer to 2 of the above questions. Develop a simple procedure to
answer each of these questions. When your procedure has been checked by the teacher, perform your
experiment to test your hypothesis.

What organic compound is Lugol’s iodine an indicator for?

 Carbonhydrate

Experiment

Apparatus and material: Test tubes, test-tube stand, test-tube

holder, spirit lamp, dropper, filter paper, iodine solution, distilled water, dropper
and foodstuff (potato, rice, wheat or maize grains).

What we predict: After reacting with iodine solution starch forms a

dark, blue-black compound.

Procedure:
1. Take a few small, cut pieces of potato or a few grains of rice or wheat or maize
in a clean test tube.

2. Pour 10 mL distilled water into the test tube.

3. Boil the contents of the test tube for about 7 minutes.

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4. Let the test tube cools down.

5. Filter the contents of the test tube with a filter paper.

6. Test the obtained filtrate for the presence of starch by:

 Take about 2 ml of the filtrate in the clean test tube. Add 3 drop of iodine
solution in the filtrate by dropper.
 The color of the filtrate will change to dark-blue , a color which shows the
appearance of starch.

Precautions:
1. Use test-tube holder for holding the test tubes ,keep the mouth of the test
tube away while heating.

2. Use clean test tubes.

3. Do not use too much of iodine solution.

What organic compound is alcohol an indicator for?

 Lipid

Experiment
Material : test tubes , dropper, cooking oil , ethanol ( alcohol) , deionized water .

1.Add a 15 drops of the cooking oil to a dry test tube.

2.Add 2 cm3 ethanol and shake it thoroughly
3.Add 2 cm3 of deionized water
4.Make observations.

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Prediction : A layer of cloudy white suspension forms at
the top of the solution. (Upon close inspection you can see the tiny
globules of fat suspended in the solution. This an emulsion. Foods
with high lipid content have a ‘higher’ layer than foods with less).

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