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Lab Report
Experiment 8A: Testing for Simple Sugars

By: Nicole Dahle

Due: February 23rd 2015

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Introduction
Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for all living things,
including humans. Starches, sugars, and fibers are the three main types of
carbohydrates that are found in food (Ward, 2013, p. 213). This experiment
was focused just on simple sugars, also known as simple carbohydrates.
These sugars are called saccharides in organic chemistry. Saccharides cannot
be broken down into smaller molecules without changing the basic nature of
them (Ward, 2013, p. 213). The main types of saccharides are
monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. The
two types that were tested in this experiment were monosaccharides and
disaccharides, specifically fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, and lactose.
Monosaccharides are sugars that contain one basic molecule (Ward,
2013, p. 213). Fructose, glucose, mannose, and galactose are all examples of
monosaccharides found in food products. Fructose is found in fruits and
honey while glucose is the most abundant of all the sugars and are part of
peoples basic source of energy (Ward, 2013, p. 213). Glucose is the only
sugar found naturally in blood and can also be located in grapes and corn
syrup. Galactose is found in all humans and animals and is found as a part of
the lactose unit in milk. Mannose is only found in some fruits including
cranberries which may have been shown to prevent urinary tract infections.
All of these sugars have six carbon atoms, twelve hydrogen atoms, and six
oxygen atoms in their chemical formulas (Ward, 2013, p. 213).

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Monosaccharides have a natural central ring structure, with fructose having a

five-member ring and glucose and galactose having six member rings.
A disaccharides structure enables it to readily combine with other
sugars to form chains and can be joined with two monosaccharides (Ward,
2013, p. 215). These sugars only contain two basic molecules. A great
amount of the sugars that are consumed in the world are disaccharides
(Ward, 2013, p. 215). Sucrose, maltose, and lactose are the disaccharides
that were tested in this experiment. Sucrose is table sugar which contains
one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule. Maltose is found mainly in
malted grains and is made up of two glucose molecules while lactose is milk
sugar and is composed of one glucose molecule and one galactose (Ward,
2013, p. 215).
The different types of carbs are each made up of carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen molecules which are arranged in different structures. The organic
compounds ketones and aldehydes, including alpha-hydroxy-ketones, are a
result of those unique structures that a certain solution can detect.
Benedicts solution is used to find out if a solution has glucose in it. During a
water bath, which is usually 4 to 10 minutes, the solution should progress in
the colors of blue, meaning there is no glucose present, green, yellow,
orange, red, and then brick red or brown meaning there is a high source of
glucose present (National Biochemicals Corporation, 2013). The reason why
Benedicts solution changes the color of different simple sugars when heated

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is because the blue solution detects aldehyde groups, except aromatic

compounds, and alpha-hydroxy-ketones including those that occur in certain
ketoses (National Biochemicals Corporation, 2013). The copper sulfate in
Benedicts Solution reacts with reducing sugars which causes the color
change of the solution (National Biochemicals Corporation, 2013). The color
after the solution and sugar mixture is heated should indicated the level of
glucose present according to the color scale mentioned earlier. Benedicts
solution is used in the medical field to determine if a patient has diabetes or
not by detecting the glucose levels in their urine (National Biochemicals
Corporation, 2013)
Also tested along with the five different types of simple sugars were
water and corn starch. Water is not expected to react due to the lack of
reducing sugars in its chemical formula. Corn starch is not expected to react
because its chemical formula does not contain a great amount of reducing
agents to react with Benedicts solution. Corn starch is polysaccharide, as are
glycogen and most of the fibers (Sizer, Whitney, 2014, p. 115). The glucose
in food also occurs in long strands of thousands of glucose units called
polysaccharides. Starch is the storage form of glucose in plants and is a
source of nutrition for humans (Sizer, Whitney, 2014, p. 123).

Objectives

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The objectives of this experiment were to understand the color change

of two monosaccharides, glucose and fructose, and three disaccharides:
sucrose, maltose, and lactose in Benedicts solution after heating them in
test tubes. In order to reveal the identity of two unknown mixtures; in part B
of this experiment, understanding what type of monosaccharide and
disaccharide changes a certain color is important. Corn starch and water was
also tested in Benedicts solution along with the five simple sugars and two
unknown mixtures.

Materials and Methods

The materials used in this experiment was a 400 mL beaker, a wax
pencil, 9 test tubes, a test-tube holder, test-tube tongs, and a 10 mL
graduated cylinder. Safety glasses and a lab coat were necessary to conduct
this experiment.
Part A of experiment 8A was to obtain 100 mL of water in a 400 mL
beaker. The water then was heated to boiling. Five milliliters of Benedicts
solution was placed in seven of the test tubes labeled 1 through 7 with the
wax pencil. Five milliliters of water was then poured in the first test tube, 5
mL of fructose in the second, 5 mL of glucose in the third, 5 mL of sucrose in
the fourth, 5 mL of maltose in the fifth test tube, 5 mL of lactose, and 5 mL of

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corn starch in the seventh test tube. All seven test tubes were then placed in
the 400 mL beaker of 100 mL boiling water for five minutes. After five
minutes, the test tubes were taken out of the water using test-tube tongs
and placed in the test-tube rack to cool off. The color change of each test
tube was observed and the results were recorded.
Part B of experiment 8A was to obtain two test tubes, labeled A and B
with the wax pencil, and add 5 mL of Benedicts solution to each test tube.
Five milliliters of unknown mixture A was placed in test tube A and 5 mL of
unknown mixture B was placed in test tube B. Both test tubes were then
placed in the 400 mL beaker with 100 mL of boiling water and heated for five
minutes. After five minutes, the test tubes were taken out of the water using
test-tube tongs placed on the test-tube rack. The color of each test tube was
observed and the results were recorded.

Results and Discussion

In part A, test tubes 1, 5, and 7 did not produce any color change.
Water and corn starch was not expected to change due to the lack of glucose
but sucrose not changing was not expected. It was supposed to change to a
blueish-green color. The reason why corn starch did not react with benedicts
solution is because there is very little reducing sugars in its chemical formula
which will cause the solution to change color only a little, if not at all. Water
did not change color due to the lack of reducing sugars in its chemical

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formula, H2O. Test tubes 2, 3, 5, and 6 have the highest level of sugars
present because of the color that reacted when mixed with Benedicts
solution. Test tube 4 did not react to Benedicts solution because it doesn't
have the free carbonly group to react with the Benedicts solution. Table 1.
shows the results of the color change of the test tubes according to their
specific simple sugar.
Table 1. Coloring Results for Different Simple Sugars in Benedicts
Solution

In part B, two unknown mixtures were tested in order to find the

identity and level of glucose. Unknown A turned a reddish brown, color
indicating a high level of glucose, while Unknown B turned a tan-ish brown,
indicating a moderate to high level of glucose. Table 2. shows the results of
the color change and the identity of each unknown.
Table 2. Coloring Results for Unknown Simple Sugars in Benedicts
Solution

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Unknown A had a higher sugar level than Unknown B. Unknown A is

sweeter because of the Kool-Aid. Kool-Aid is made with fructose, the simple
sugar with the highest level of sweetness, while lactose-free milk does not.
The following pictures show the color changes of all seven simple
sugars tested, including corn starch and water, and the color change of both
unknown mixtures.

Image 1. This picture shows the color of the seven test

tubes with different simple sugars before being heated for five minutes. You
can see that test tube #2 already began to change its color due to the
reaction with Benedicts solution.

Image 2. This picture shows the color change of test tube

#1 after being heated for five minutes.

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Image 3. This picture shows the color change of test tube

#2 after being heated for five minutes.

Image 4. This picture shows the color change of test tube

#3 after being heated for five minutes.

Image 5. This picture shows the color change of test tube

#4 after being heated for five minutes.

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Image 6. This picture shows the color change of test tube

#5 after being heated for five minutes.

Image 7. This picture shows the color change of test tube

#6 after being heated for five minutes.

Image 8. This picture shows the color change of test tube

#7 after being heated for five minutes.

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Image 9. This picture shows the color change of test tubes

Unknown A and B after being heated for five minutes.

Summary/Conclusion
Simple sugars can be found in many different foods; each sugar with
its own level of sweetness. What was concluded from this experiment was
that the simple sugars fructose, glucose, and maltose reacted with either a
burnt red or brownish red color change indicating a high level of glucose
present. Lactose reacted with a color change of orangeish red indicating a
moderately high level of glucose present but not as high as fructose. Sucrose
did not change color in benedicts solution because it doesn't have the free
carbonyl group to react with the Benedicts solution like the other simple
sugars. Water and corn starch did not react to Benedicts solution because
there was either no reducing sugars or a very low number present which
would cause little or no color change after being heated.

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List of References
National Biochemicals Corporation (2013, February 4). Benedict's Solution.
Retrieved

February 17, 2015, from

http://www.nationalbiochem.com/pdf/pis/MB4755

PS.pdf

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Sizer, F., & Whitney, E. (2014). The Carbohydrates: Sugar, Starch, Glycogen,
and Fiber. In

Nutrition: Concepts & Controversies (Thirteenth ed., pp.

112-155). Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

Ward, J. (2013). Sugar: The Simplest of Carbohydrates. In Principles of Food

Science (Third

ed., pp. 211-237). Tinley Park, Illinois: The

Goodheart-Willcox Company.