Man T Thai

Lab section 7
Final Project Introduction
Our group will be studying the fat analysis of salad dressings. We will extract and
measure the energy per gram fat of per serving of three different salad dressings: Ranch,
Vinaigrette, and Thousand Islands with extraction method and bomb calorimetry.
This study is to find out which of these dressings produces the most energy from fat per
serving. Since food will always contain more than one type of fat, we are unable to
accurately determine how many and what exactly the fat from dressings are. In fact, the
identity of the fat can contribute to the differences in the amount of energy produced.
However, through previous studies, Thousand island dressing is found to be richer in total
fat compared to Ranch dressings and Vinaigrette dressing(1), therefore, I hypothesize that
Thousand Island will supply the most energy per gram fat. Another piece of evidence that
would support my hypothesis is the total fat content of the main ingredients of these
dressings. Ranch dressing is mainly made of sour cream, Vinaigrette mostly consists of
vinegar and oil, and Thousand Island dressing contains not only oil but mayonnaise, which
in fact has more total fat compared to sour cream(2).
The information of calories per serving only provides consumers the overall energy one
serving has rather than the exact calories from its fat content. Since fat energy is more
significant as it provides even more energy compared to carbohydrates (3) and it aids in
vitamins absorbance (4) , its crucial to determine the appropriate dressings to meet each
individuals dietary need.
We will mainly employ the extraction method bomb calorimetry to separate fat and
measure the energy per gram fat produces. Through extraction method, we will utilize
petroleum ether, which is a non-polar solvent to pull out the non-polar fat, as non-polar
substances will dissolve in non-polar solvent easily, then by making petroleum ether
evaporate, we succeed in separating fat from dressings(5). Through bomb calorimetry, we
will calculate the energy from the combustion of the extracted fat(7).
Chemistry of fat:
Fat is generally a compound of glycerol and fatty acids, the composition of fatty acids
will determine if the fat is whether saturated or unsaturated, the hydrogen ions around the
double bond can be either on opposite sides (trans) or on the same side (cis). Fat is non-
polar so it will dissolve easily in petroleum ether, which is also non-polar.
Fat molecule :
Equation for Fat combustion:
+ xO2 (g) yCO2(g) + zH2O(g)
References:
1. Wendys nutrition information.2014.PDF File.
2. Calories content of sauces.AlbertaRose. Anne Collins, n.d. Web. n.d
3. Carbohydrates versus Fats ClackamacCommunityCollege. Sue,E .n.d.Web.n.d.
4. How the body uses fat. Rawfoodexplained. n.d. Web. n.d.
5. Comparison of two fat extraction methods." St.LawrencesChemweb. Francois, B,
Michael,B. n.d. Web. n.d.
6. Bunce, D., Schwartz, A.T., Silberman, R., Stanitski, C., Stratton, W., Zipp, A. (Eds.).
(1994). Chemistry in Context. England: WM. C. Brown Publishers.
7. Paar Scientific Bomb Calorimetry Manual.