In part II of the Organic Compounds in Foods lab, we to examining whether or not the starch in the saltine cracker can chemically break down in sugar with the presence of salivary amylase, which is an enzyme found in your mouth which assists in digestion. My group and I were instructed to obtain a saltine cracker from our teacher and chew on it for approximately 2 minutes. After concluding the chewing, we then grabbed a beaker and spit our slimy and chewed cracker into it.
Subsequently, to get results my group and I placed the beakers in the water bath where it heated for 3-5 minutes. We needed to put it in the water bath because for best results enzymes must be in hot temperatures and water. While waiting, my lab group and I came up with a hypothesis. We hypothesized that if we were to add salivary amylase to the saltine cracker it would start to digest/ break down. We made this hypothesis because by going back to the data table from part l, we knew that saltine crackers had starch because it tested positive.In addition, from previous science classes we had been aware of the enzyme of salivary amylase, so the hypothesis came with relative ease as we were all confident in our hypothesis.
After testing the hypothesis by removing the beakers carefully out of the water bath and observing the color, our hypothesis was correct. This is because the indicator that we used to test for sugar (Benedicts Solution) came out of the water bath a blackish color. Meaning that a quantity of the starch had been chemically broken down into sugars, thanks to the salivary amylase.We knew that there was sugar in the content because if the indicator shows any color other than blue, that meaner that the substance being tested has sugar presence contained in it. While performing the lab, my group and I were required to wear safety goggles throughout part I and segments of part II.
This is because we are working with indicators that can stain burn through skin, and more. We were also required to wear tighter clothes, not baggy clothes as well as to wear closed-top shoes instead of flip- flops, etc. So if someone were to spill a substance/chemical the danger would deeply decrease with closed shoes as opposed to flip-flops or sandals. We were also expected to treat the lab equipment and chemicals with care, and to not fool around with any of them. This lab of examining whether or not the starch in the saltine cracker can chemically break down in sugar was interesting.
I learned a lot in this two-part lab, like how protein is a type of organic molecule that is also an enzyme.Furthermore on what I learned, my group's hypothesis was correct by predicting that the starch in the cracker will break down into sugar with the help of salivary amylase. It was correct because that's exactly what happened and the saltine cracker turned black to indicate that sugar was present. In conclusion, my hypothesis was accurate and the salivary amylase did in fact break down the starch from the saltine cracker to sugar, which was indicated the Benedicts Solution.
