Carbohydrate Lab

In the carbohydrate lab we demonstrated how to find if a substance is manosaccharide, disaccharide, polysaccharide. We used benedicts and iodine to see if the substance had any change. The first day we put monosaccharide in a test tube and mixed benedicts with it and put some in another test tube and placed iodine in it. The tube with benedicts was placed in warmer  temperature that was 70 C for five minutes, the iodine was not placed in it. The next test tube contained disaccharide with benedicts and another with iodine, the tube that contained benedicts was placed in the warmer that held a temperature of 70 C for five minutes. The third set of test tubes contained polysaccharide mixed with benedicts in one and the other one was mixed with iodine. Once again the tube containing benedicts was placed in the warmer that held a temperature of 70 C for five minutes and the tube containing iodine was left out. I came to the conclusion that when benedicts is mixed with a substance and has a major color change, it is a monosaccharide. I learned that if a substance does not change when benedicts or iodine is mixed with it, it is a disaccharide. Also i came to the conclusion that if iodine is added to a substance and has a major color change, it is a polysaccharide.

 This picture shows the test tubes that contain benedict, monosaccharide, and disaccharide before adding iodine and benedict.

The picture above shows the change in manosaccharide, disaccharide, and polysaccharides after having benedict and iodine added to it.

The lab was continued the next day. We tested different foods to see what they were. We crushed up the food, added water, and put iodine in one test tube and benedicts in the other test tube. Once again the tubes that contained benedict was placed in the warmer for five minutes. The first food i tried was a gram cracker. i placed the crushed gram cracker in two test tubes mixed with water and one with benedict and the other with iodine. After five minutes i took the benedict out of the warmer noticing it changed orange and no change in the iodine. i came to the conclusion that gram crackers are monosaccharides.  Next i crushed a taco shell and placed it in two test tubes mixed with water and one with benedict, the other with iodine. After taking the benedict out of the warmer it had no color change but the iodine had turned blueish/purple, and lead me to the conclusion that it is a polysaccharide.

 I tested Honey Nut Scooters and placed the tube that contained benedict in the warmer. After waiting five minutes, the tube containing benedict turned greenish/yellow. The iodine had also turned purple which means Honey Nut Scooters has multiple monosaccharides and multiple polysaccharides. Honey turned orange when mixed with the benedicts and had no change with the iodine. Honey is a monosaccharide.


Polysaccharides are just long carbohydrate molecules of monosaccharides that are joined together by glysodic bonds.

The picture above is the picture of my data that i collected throughout the lab. It shows my results of mixing benedict and iodine with monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.

Artificial sweeteners are not natural sugars. In many soft drinks that are labeled "diet" or "light" contain artificial sugars. Things that contain artificial sugars usually has a different mouth feel. A lot of time artificial sugars are added to make something taste sweeter or not so bitter. The artificial sugars that have been approved in the United States for use are aspartame, sucralose, stevia, saccharin, neotame, and acesulfame potassium. A lot of people that are trying to lose weight eat things with sugar substitutes. People that have diabetes limit their intake of sugar with artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners do not give you as much energy as you receive  from natural sugars because natural sugars have calories that help make energy. Natural sugar travels through your intestines and gets broken down into simplest form it is then sent into your blood. Artificial sweeteners just go right on through you because your body has no clue how to break down the substance that it contains. Artificial sugars do not affect your teeth as much as natural sugars do. Some things that include artificial sweeteners are soft drinks, chewing gum, jellies, baked goods, candy, fruit juice, ice cream, and some yogurt.
                            
The picture above if of molecular structures of surcose and FDA-approves artificial sweeteners.