Glucose Assays Revisited: Experimental Determination of the Glucose Concentration in Honey

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 9 Issue 4 (2004) pp 239-241

Glucose Assays Revisited: Experimental Determination of the Glucose Concentration in Honey

Laura DeLong Frost

Department of Chemistry, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460, ldelong@georgiasouthern.edu
Received April 6, 2004. Accepted June 22, 2004.

Published online: 7 July 2004

Abstract. Routine glucose assays have been incorporated into the biochemistry laboratory curriculum to emphasize the difference between a nonenzymatic assay and an enzymatic assay. Instead of the typical determination of glucose concentration from a random unknown glucose solution, students are asked to determine the glucose concentration in honey. Using honey as the glucose unknown allows students to readily see the difference in the two assays because the nonenzymatic assay reveals all reducing sugars and the enzymatic assay is specific for glucose. In this work the laboratory procedures are described and typical student results are provided.

Key Words: Laboratories and Demonstrations; biochemistry; carbohydrates; glucose assay; laboratory; glucose oxidase; horseradish peroxidase; spectrophotometry

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: ldelong@georgiasouthern.edu)

Article in PDF format (171 KB) HTML format

Supporting Materials:

Student’s Laboratory Exercise: Nonenzymatic and Enzymatic Measurements of Glucose. These materials can be downloaded in a Zip file (134 KB).