Name: Zyarielle Harrison

Biology Unit 1 P&D

Title: Plan and Design 2: Starch Test Cassava vs. Parboiled Rice

Problem Statement: Sasha’s grandmother believes that cassava has more starch than
parboiled rice. Sasha does not believe this and because of this, she frequently ends up in
arguments with her grandmother. Plan and design an experiment to determine whether Sasha
or her grandmother is correct.

Introduction: The science behind iodine test for starch is complicated, but the results indicate that if
the iodine turns blue black, then starch is present and if the iodine remains reddish brown, starch is
absent. In the below experiment, because both parboiled rice and cassava are expected to have high
amounts of starch, the water samples obtained from rice and starch respectively were diluted. This is
because, if the concentrated samples were used, both would show intense blue black colours that
would be difficult to differentiate.

Hypothesis: Cassava has a higher starch content than parboiled rice and the starch content of
each food can be determined through the use of iodine tests.

Aim: To determine which food, between cassava and parboiled rice, has a higher starch content
through the use of iodine tests.

Apparatus & Materials: Cassava

Parboiled Rice
Tap Water
Distilled Water
Iodine
2 25 ml Measuring Cylinders
500 ml beakers
14 Test Tubes
1 5 ml syringe
Electronic Balance
Strainer
Hot Plate
Aluminum Pot
 Weighing Dish
Glass Rod

Method:
1) Weigh out 10 grams of parboiled rice using electronic balance.
2) Fill aluminum pot with 250 ml of tap water and bring it to a boil using the hot plate.
Once bubbles are seen, add rice to the pot and stir gently.
3) Allow to boil for 20 minutes and subsequently, strain over a 500 ml beaker, allowing the
rice water to be collected.
4) Allow collected rice water to cool.
5) Repeat steps 1-4 substituting 10 grams of rice for a 10 gram cube of cassava.
6) After both water samples have cooled, measure out 5 ml of each using measuring
cylinders.
7) Dilute both samples with 5 ml of distilled water and transfer the diluted solutions to
their respective test tubes and stir using glass rod. Label the test tubes by writing the
first letter of the food used (either cassava or rice), and the volume of distilled water by
which the sample was diluted as it’s subscript. In this case, the labels will be written as C5
and R5 respectively.
8) Add 1 cm3 of iodine to test tubes C5 and R5 and record any apparent colour changes in the
table below. Note the intensity of any colour change seen.
9) Repeat steps 7 and 8, diluting each sample by increasing increments of 5, stopping after
the addition of 30 ml of distilled water. For Example, volume of distilled water added for
each trial: 5 ml, 10 ml, 15 ml, 20 ml, 25 ml, 30 ml.
 Data to be Collected:
TABLE SHOWING OBSERVATIONS ON THE ADDITION OF IODINE TO VARYING DILUTIONS OF
CASSAVA AND RICE WATER SAMPLES

Amount of Sample Amount of Distilled Observations on the Comparative Analysis

Used (ml) Water for Dilution addition of Iodine of Starch Test Results
(ml)
Sample Rice Cassava Rice Cassava Rice Cassava
Type
5 5 0 0
5 5 5 5
5 5 10 10
5 5 15 15
5 5 20 20
5 5 25 25
5 5 30 30

Predicted Results: A blue black colour change is expected in ALL samples on the addition of
iodine as both substances are assumed to contain starch. If cassava has a higher starch content
than parboiled rice, then the dilutions of cassava water is expected to consistently evoke a
deeper blue black colour change than its rice counterparts and the hypothesis is confirmed.
However, if rice evokes a deeper blue black colour change, rice has a higher starch content than
cassava and the hypothesis is proven false.

Precautions:
A syringe should be used to administer the iodine instead of a dropper in order to standardize
the amount of iodine used across all starch test trials
Different dilutions of rice and cassava water samples are to be used in order to properly see and
compare the intensities of the blue black colour changes expected.

Sources of Error: The perception of colour and its intensity is subjective to humans and
therefore one experimenter’s interpretation of a ‘hue’ may differ from another’s. Therefore, the
results of this experiment rely heavily on a subjective quality and the conclusions drawn may
not be standard across experimenters.
Limitations:
Though the mass of rice and cassava to be used is the same, the rice grains have a larger total
surface area than the cube of cassava to be used and therefore, the cassava will have less
interaction with the water during boiling.
Even if the cassava was grated to increase surface area, the surface area of rice would not be
able to be replicated exactly.

Assumptions:
Water loss expected to occur during boiling is negligible and sufficient water from each sample
could be obtained for the iodine tests after the 20-minute period is up.