#31 Food test 2 - Benedict's test for Reducing Sugars
All simple sugars (e.g.glucose) are reducing sugars. They will react with a blue liquid called Benedict's solution to give a brick red color. We can use this reaction to find out if a food or other substance contains a reducing sugar.
Process
- add a few drops of Benedict's solution
- heat the mixture for 2-3 minutes in boiling water bath
- a BRICK RED/ORANGE COLOR is a positive result: glucose is present
- The closer the color is to brick red, the more reducing sugar is present.
Explanation
Illustrations
- Reducing Sugars are sugars that contain aldehyde groups, that are oxidised to carboxylic acids (R-COOH).
- They are classified as reducing sugars since they reduce the blue Cu2+(copper II ions) to to Cu+ (copper I ions). These are precipitated in form of red Cu2O (copper oxide), insoluble in water.
Illustrations
When the concentration of reducing sugar is low, the color of the Benedict's test may be light green or pale orange.
Videos: Benedict's test for reducing sugars
Additional source: cccmkc.edu.hk