Presence Of Macromolecules In Mcdonald's Happy Meals

Testing for the Presence of Macromolecules in McDonald’s Happy Meals
Clayton Wagoner
MST Biology White 4 duPont Manual High School

Introduction
Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids are organic molecules found in every living organism. These macromolecules are large carbon based structures. The macromolecules are assembled by joining several smaller units, called monomers, together through a chemical reaction called dehydration synthesis. The resulting polymer can be disassembled through the complementary process called hydrolysis.Carbohydrates are made of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms in a 1:2:1 ratio. This means that for every carbon atom present in the carbohydrate there are two hydrogen

To begin, one must test for monosaccharides. Glucose is necessary, and is needed to be placed into a test tube at a quantity of 5 mL. 3 mL of Benedict’s solution is then added. The test tube is then placed in a beaker of boiling water for five minutes or until the color changes. If the color changes, then it is known that monosaccharides are present in the solution. Next, one will test for starches. Starch solution is then placed into the test tube at a quantity of 5 mL. 5 drops of Lugol’s Iodine solution is added to the test tube. If the color changes, then it is known that starches are present in the solution. Proteins are next tested. In order to do this, 5 mL of gelatin solution is added to the test tube. 10 drops of Biuret’s reagent are added to test for protein. If there is a color change, then it is known that protein is present in the solution. Finally, lipids are tested. 5 mL of water are added to 5 mL of oil. 5 drops of Sudan 3 are added, and if the color changes, then lipids are present. Next, the McMush is tested. The same processes are repeated for monosaccharides, starches, proteins, and lipids, except the McMush solution is added in place of the glucose, starch, gelatin, and

The cause of this is likely that the protein was already broken down so much when used for cooking that Biuret’s test was unable to detect it. While the results from this experiment seem appropriate for the experiment, there could have been a few issues that could have taken place during the experiment. One of these could be that the solutions used for testing (such as Biuret’s solution) could have at out for too long since we did the experiment in the afternoon. This could lead to an incorrect data. Also, the materials may have not been completely clean, such as the test tubes, which could have also affected the data. In conclusion, from the collected data, the lack of the change in characteristics from Biuret’s solution suggests that there is a minimal amount of protein in both of the McDonald’s happy meals, if