11/14/11

Esteban Valencia
Biochemistry
Roy 4th
Corn Starch Lab and Benedict Reagent
Materials

Benedict Reagent
Starch
Iodine (I2)
Sugar water solution

Analysis
Firstly, The starch, when added to the water, resulted in a color change from clear
to milky white, which was a result of the overabundance of starch in comparison to the
amount of water present. When the Iodine, which was originally a bright orange color,
was added to the starch-water solution, the initial color change of the uppermost surface
of the solution went from milky white to deep purple. This marked an observable
chemical reaction. The reason for the solution to change color is because of the starchs
structurea ring structure of alpha helices (or a closed structure of alpha-helices,
connected by alpha acetal linkage). When the Iodine is added to the starch-water solution,
the iodine molecules are able to slip inside the ring. This somewhat upsets the
structure, as now the hole which once existed in the center of the starch ring is now
filled with iodine. The change in structure, or, rather, the filling of this starch hole, is the
cause of the color change from a milky white solution to a deep/blue purple solution. In
our experiment, the color of the solution faded because of the disproportion of iodine to
starch (resulting in a light blue color), but the color that first appeared at the surface tells
us that this is the reaction that took place.
Secondly, the benedict reagent (which has been kept separate from the rest of the
experiment) is mixed with a solution of sugar water and heated until any visible reaction
is shown. At first, there is no observable reactionthis is because the sugar that is added
(sucrose, or common table sugar) is not reactive when mixed with the benedict reagent.
As time progressed, however, and the solution became heated, it started to change color
from clear and colorless to a faint light-blue color. This reaction occurs because of the
breaking down of sucrose into its basic componentsglucose and fructose (both
monosaccharide, as sucrose is a disaccharide). On its own, the sucrose was non-reactive
in the benedict solution, but when heated the bonds of the sucrose became weakened,
allowing the glucose and fructose to break away from each other and exist in their
monosaccharide form. Both glucose and fructose are responsive in the benedict solution
(individually) and so when they form from the breaking of bonds in sucrose in a benedict
solution they are also responsivechanging the otherwise clear solution into one of light
blue.

Conclusion
The lab allowed us to look at how Iodine and starch react together, giving us a
foundation upon which we may understand how chemicals affect basic compounds and
how even the simplest changes to molecular structure (i.e., filling spaces) can produce
reactions. The second experiment showed us how to identify monosaccharide and
disaccharides (and more importantly, how to distinguish them from one another) through
the benedict reaction process. It also helped us gain a greater understanding of the nature
of sugars and how monosaccharide behave much differently from disaccharides.