Exercise No.

11:
Digestion of Foodstuffs
Introduction
The digestive process utilize enzymes to carry out the hydrolysis of large
molecules in our food to molecule small enough to dialyze the intestinal wall
into the blood or lymph.
STARCH DIGESTION
Starch make up one of the major carbohydrate in our foods. In order to use
starch, it must be hydrolyzed into glucose molecules. Digestion of starch
begins in the mouth by the action of an enzyme, salivary amylase. Hydrolysis
continues in the small intestine through the action of pancreatic amylase,
maltase, sucrase and lactase.

carbohydrates (amylase, maltase)

Starch (amylose) glucose molecules
LIPID DIGESTION
Approximately 30-40% of our diet consists of fats and oil (triglycerols).
Chemically, a fat is an ester of glycerol and fatty acids. Digestion of fats
begins in the intestine with bile salts and the enzymatic action of lipases
obtained from the gall bladder. The bile salts cause the fat to break up into
smaller droplets (emulsification) increasing the surface area and the lipases
hydrolyze the ester bonds of the fats.

lipases
Fats glycerol + fatty acids
PROTEIN DIGESTION
Proteins begin digestion in the stomach where HCI activates the proteases
such as pepsin that hydrolyze peptide bonds. The resulting products of
protein digestion are the amino acids.

Proteases (pepsin, trypsin)

Proteins amino acids
For instructional purposes only • 1st Semester SY 2020-2021 73

Learning Outcomes
1. To identify digestion as a process of hydrolysis.
2. To determine the hydrolysis products of carbohydrate, fat and protein
digestion.

Materials
 Test tubes Bile salts Phenolphthalein
 1% starch Whole milk hard-cooked eggs
 Iodine solution 50-mL buret 2% pepsin
 Spot plate or wax paper 0.1 N NaOH 0.1 N HCl
 Benedict’s reagent 2% pancreatin
 Safflower oil pH meter

Procedure

A. DIGESTION OF CARBOHYDRATES
A-1 Hydrolysis of Starch
Collect 1 mL of saliva in a small beaker. Prepare two test tubes each
with 5 mL 1% starch. To one of the test tubes, add 10 drops of saliva
containing salivary enzyme. Mix thoroughly. Prepare a spot plate or
wax paper with 1 drop of iodine reagent for each test.
Every two minutes, place a drop of each mixture in the spot plate or on
a drop of iodine on the wax paper. A deep-blue color indicates that
starch is present. Continue testing the mixtures until the deep-blue
color for starch no longer forms. Record the time.
A-2 Formation of Glucose
To test for the presence of glucose as a final product of starch
digestion, add 5 mL of Benedict’s reagent to each of the two test
tubes and contents. Place the test tubes in a boiling water bath for 5
minutes. Record the colors that form. Determine if glucose is present
or not.

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 74 CHEM 132.2: Biochemistry Laboratory

B. DIGESTION OF FATS
B-1 Bile Salts
Place 2 mL safflower oil in each of two test tubes. Add 8 mL water to
one test tube. To the other sample, add 5 mL water and 3 mL bile
salts. Mix thoroughly. Let the test tubes stand for 30 minutes. Record
your observations.
B-2 Hydrolysis by Lipase
Place 50 mL of milk in an Erlenmeyer flask. Place the flask in a 37°C
water bath using a 400 mL beaker. Set up a buret containing 0.IM
NaOH. Add 10 mL 2% pancreatin to the flask and mix thoroughly.
Carefully pour out 10 mL of the milk mixture into another flask. Return
the rest of the milk to the 37°C water bath. Test the pH of the milk
sample with a pH meter.
Add 3-5 drops of phenolphthalein to the milk sample. Titrate with the
0.1N NaOH rom the buret until a permanent light pink color is
obtained. This marks the endpoint. Record the number of milliliters of
NaOH required to reach the endpoint.
Remove 10-mL samples of the milk and lipase mixture every 20
minutes until 60 minutes have elapsed. Immediately determine the pH
of each sample and then titrate with 0.1N NaOH. Record the number
of milliliters of NaOH used each time.
C. PROTEIN DIGESTION
Obtain three small pieces of the white part of a hard-boiled egg. Place
the pieces in three separate test tubes. Prepare the three test tubes as
follows.
Test tube Solutions
1 5 mL water + 1 mL 0.1N HCl
2 5 mL pepsin + 1 mL 0.1N HCl
3 5 mL pepsin + 1 mL water
4
Place the test tubes in a 37°C water bath for 1 hr. Record any changes
in the egg white portion in each test tube.

Guide questions and instructions on how to prepare

and submit the laboratory
1. Where does starch digestion begin?
2. What carbohydrate digestion occurs in the small intestine?
3. What are the end products of carbohydrate digestion?
4. Why do we need a digestion process?
5. What is the effect of bile salts on an oil and water mixture?

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Mission: Development of a highly competitive human resource, cutting-edge scientific knowledge TP-IMD-04
and innovative technologies for sustainable communities and environment. V0 07-15-2020
No.
For instructional purposes only • 1st Semester SY 2020-2021 75

6. What is the function of bile salts in the digestion of fats and oils
(triacylglycerols)?
7. What products of lipase action would change the pH of a mixture
containing triacylglycerol?
8. Why does a person with a low protein production of stomach HCl have
difficulty with problem digestion?
9. What are the products of protein hydrolysis?
This guide questions will serve as your quiz and to be submitted along
with your lab report. The laboratory report sheets provided will be
submitted by the student after every exercise through email or courier.
See abridged for the schedule of submission.

Additional Resources

Use References style here

References

Robyt, J.F. and B.J. White. 1987. Biochemical Techniques: Theory and Practice. Brooks/Cole
Pub. Co.: Monterey, California; pp. 407.

Timberlake, K. 1988. Laboratory Manual for Chemistry. Harper Collins Publishers Inc.: New
York, pp. 277-372.

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Mission: Development of a highly competitive human resource, cutting-edge scientific knowledge TP-IMD-04
and innovative technologies for sustainable communities and environment. V0 07-15-2020
No.