B3 Biological molecules

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B3.01
Exercise 1
1. Grains are a good source of …
a. Protein
b. Carbohydrates
c. Sugar
d. Water

2. The food group that is highest in protein is …

a. Milk and alternatives
b. Fruit and vegetables
c. Meat and alternatives
d. Grain products

3. Water…
a. Gives us energy
b. Helps body to absorb fat
c. Carries nutrients around body
d. Is not a nutrient

4. Which nutrient is our body’s MAIN source of energy?

a. Carbohydrates
b. Fats
c. Water
d. Minerals

5. How does calcium help our body?

a. Builds muscle
b. Helps eyesight
c. Develops red blood cells
d. Builds strong bones

6. Which one of these is considered the “good fats” that we get from foods?
a. Unsaturated fat
b. Trans fat
c. Saturated
d. Carbs
7. Seafood is a type of protein.
True

8. Cereal is a type of grain.

True

9. How can you tell what the main ingredient in a food is?
a. The first ingredient on the food label
b. The last ingredient on the food label
c. The one with the highest percentage
d. The amount of calories

10. Which of the following are protein?

a. Arugula
b. Strawberries
c. Tortilla
d. Beans, eggs, chicken

11. How many calories in 1 cup of soup?

160
B3.02 Carbohydrates
 Carbohydrates include starches and sugars, it can tested by using benedict
 Simple sugars called by monosaccharides (ex: glucose)
 Simple sugars join into two called by disaccharides (ex: sucrose and malt sugar)
 If many monosaccharides join together, it is called a polysaccharide / starch (ex: the
cellulose of plant cell walls and glycogen in animal cell)
 Function: easily available energy
 1 gram = 17 kJ

Let’s make a monosaccharide

 Carbon = black
 Hydrogen = white
 Oxygen = red

Testing for Carbohydrates

1) Iodine is used to test the starch
If there’s starch present, a blue-black colour is produced. If there’s no starch, it
remains orange-brown
2) Benedict is used to test the glucose / simple sugar
If the food contains reducing sugar (glucose or maltose), a brick-red colour is
produced. If there’s no reducing sugar, it remains blue.
Exercise 2
1. What are the monomers of a polysaccharide?
a. Glycerol
b. Amino acid
c. fatty acid
d. glucose

2. A monosaccharide is a
a. Carbohydrate
b. Lipid
c. nucleic acid
d. protein

3. Which of the following organic compounds is the main source of energy for living things?
a. Carbohydrates
b. Lipids
c. nucleic acids
d. proteins

4. Plants store glucose in the form of

a. Starch
b. Glycogen
c. Cellulose
d. Chitin

5. What reagent is used to test a simple sugar?

a. Biurets
b. Iodine
c. Lugol's
d. Benedicts

6. What reagent is used to test for starch?

a. Iodine
b. Benedicts
c. Sudans
d. Lugol's

7. What element must be present for a molecule to be considered organic?

a. Nitrogen
b. Water
c. Hydrogen
d. Carbon
8. The 4 macromolecules are…
a. vitamins, lipids, water, micronutrients
b. micronutrients, macronutrients, water, vitamins
c. Lipids, Waxes, Vitamin A, Water
d. Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Nucleic Acids

9. Which type of carbohydrate is this?

a. Monosaccharide
b. Disaccharide
c. Polysaccharide
d. Glyceride

10. Which type of carbohydrate is this?

a. Monosaccharide
b. Disaccharide
c. Polysaccharide
d. Glyceride

11. Which is not a chemical element needed to build sugars?

a. Carbon
b. Oxygen
c. Nitrogen
d. Hydrogen

12. What is correct function for a carbohydrate?

a. build and repair body tissues
b. body's main source of energy
c. helps keep immune system functioning
d. cushions organs
B3.03 Fats
 Fats are also known as lipids
 Fats contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
 Most fats (lipids) in the body are made up of triglycerides
 Their basic unit is 1 glycerol molecule chemically bonded to 3 fatty acid chains
 The fatty acids vary in size and structure
 Lipids are divided into fats / saturated (solids at room temperature) and oils /
unsaturated (liquids at room temperature)
 1 gram = 39 kJ
 Function: storage energy, insulation, making cell membranes
Testing for fats and oils

 by using filter papers

How?
1) Grind the solid food samples in distilled water
2) Smeared onto a filter paper and left to dry
3) Leave them to dry for a few minutes

 by the ethanol emulsion test.

How?
1) Chop the food and shake it up with ethanol.
2) Pour the ethanol into water.
3) If there’s any fat, there will be an emulsion, it looks white and opaque.
If there’s no fat, it remains transparent.
B3.04 Proteins
 Proteins contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen
 Long chains of amino acids (smaller molecules). There are about 20 different amino
acids
 Function: making cells, enzymes, haemoglobin ; used for energy

Testing for proteins

 It tested by using the biuret test

 How to test it?
1) Mixing the food in water
2) Adding the dilute copper solution
3) Then, the dilute potassium hydroxide solution is gently added
4) If there’s protein, it will produce a purple colour.
If there’s no protein, it stays blue.

LOOK AT TABLE B3.01 IN THE BOOK PAGE 27!

(A COMPARISON OF CARBOHYDRATES, FATS AND PROTEINS)
B3.04 Enzymes
 An enzyme is a protein that functions as a biological catalyst – a substance that
speeds up a chemical reaction without being changed by the reaction.
Lock and key model

 Enzymes are folded into complex shapes that allow smaller molecules to fit into
them. The place where these molecules fit is called the active site.

 In the lock and key model, the shape of the active site matches the shape of its
substrate molecules. This makes enzymes highly specific – each type of enzyme can
catalyse only one type of reaction (or just a few types of reactions).

 The diagram shows how this works. In this example, the enzyme splits one molecule
into two smaller ones, but other enzymes join small molecules together to make a
larger one.

 If the shape of the enzyme changes, its active site may no longer work. We say that
the enzyme has been denatured. Enzymes can be denatured by high temperatures
or extremes of pH.

Effect of temperature

 As with ordinary chemical reactions, the rate of an enzyme-catalysed reaction

increases as the temperature increases. However, at high temperatures the rate
decreases again because the enzyme becomes denatured and can no longer function
as a biological catalyst.
  Optimum temperature is the temperature at which an enzyme works fastest.
Example:
1) Enzymes from the human digestive system => around 37°C
2) Enzymes from plants => around 28°C to 30°C
3) Enzymes from bacteria => as high as 75°C

Effect of pH

 Changes in pH alter the shape of an enzyme’s active site. Different enzymes work
best at different pH values.

 The optimum pH for an enzyme depends on where it normally works. For example,
intestinal enzymes have an optimum pH of about 7.5, but stomach enzymes have an
optimum pH of about 2.