Exploring Carbohydrates with Bananas

Most of us understand that bananas are the fruit of banana trees. Like most fruits, bananas (if ripe) are sweet.
As you know from experience, most carbohydrates you come across are sweet.

Carbohydrates can be simple or complex. The complexity of sugars depends on whether the sugar molecules
are alone (monomer) or in chains (polymers). Monomers of carbohydrates are called monosaccharides and
polymers of carbohydrates are called disaccharides, oligosaccharides, or polysaccharides.

Carbohydrate Type Example Units Image

Monosaccharide Glucose One

(monomer) Fructose

Disaccharide Sucrose Two

(polymer) Maltose

Oligosaccharide Glycoproteins 3-10

(polymer) Glycolipids

Polysaccharide Starch > 10

(polymer) Cellulose
Glycogen

Part 1 - Banana Tissue

We will test the differences iodine has on different carbohydrates

Procedure
1. Grab 3 test tubes and a test tube rack
2. Put 20 ml of water into each test tube.
3. In one test tube put 0.3 grams of corn starch, in another test tube put 0.3 grams of sugar, and in the last
test tube leave just water.
4. Add 2 drops of iodine solution to each test tube. Record your results below.

Water Only Water + Sugar Water + Corn Starch

Observations
MAY s't Turned indigo
5086419 black
 • What does this test tell you about iodine and starch vs glucose?

Part 2 - Banana Cells

Starch is a polysaccharide made of thousands of monomers of glucose. It is primarily used as a storage
molecule for sugars in cells. The organelles containing starch in banana cells (and potato cells) are
amyloplasts, a type of plastid that stores starch. Sugar production is a product of photosynthesis.

● Why would the banana plant spend time and energy sending glucose from the leaves of the banana
plant to the fruit and storing them in long chain polysaccharides?

Cells build and break down polymers for many different reasons. To build a polymer, monomers are combined
through a process called dehydration synthesis. In this process, portions of the monomer molecule are
extracted by an enzyme and combined to form water. The resultant open bonds are combined between the two
monomers. Below is an example of combining two glucose molecules together by the enzyme maltase to form
a disaccharide called maltose.

Cells also take polymers and break them into monomers. This process is called hydrolysis. Hydrolysis is also
performed by an enzyme that grabs the polymer and deforms it so that water is broken into parts and added to
the two resulting monomers. Below is an example of breaking the polymer maltose into two monomers of
glucose.

Before we do the test, let’s come up with our hypotheses related to the starch and sugar content of
green versus ripe bananas.

● Null Hypothesis-

● Alternative Hypothesis-
Procedure

1. Take 3 different colored microcentrifuge tubes and add 250uL of water using a pipette only for water.
Then add 50uL of iodine using a pipette only for iodine. Cap. Shake to mix. Use the image in
Schoology to measure correctly on your pipette.
2. Obtain your banana sample. Doesn’t matter which one you start with. The key is to not use too much
so you can see individual cells. Use the yellow inoculating loop and scrape the banana gently so that
the loop is somewhat filled.
3. Take your loop and place it into the solution in your microcentrifuge tube. Spin the loop between your
finger and thumb in the solution and check that the loop is empty. This will mix your sample. Shake
your tube several times to make sure it mixed well. Rinse your loop off for later use.
4. Using the iodine pipette to transfer 1 drop of solution to your microscope slide. Place a coverslip on
top, try not to get air bubbles. Rinse your pipette out for later use.
5. Place the slide on the microscope, start with 4x (red) objective to locate the cells and then move to
the 10x (yellow) objective.
6. You will see cells in your field of view. Use 5 cells in your field of view and
count the plastids inside the cell. The easiest thing to do is to take a picture of
your cells and then blow up the image to count the plastids. Move the slide to
another set of 5 cells and count again. Make a total of 4 counts and average
them. Log your information into your data table.
7. Repeat 1-6 again for the other bananas.

Treatment Count 1 Count 2 Count 3 Count 4 Average

Green 37 38 41 46 40.75
Ripe
60 64 50 62 59
Overripe
30 33 22 41
Create a graph below showing the mean number of plastids per treatment. Make sure to label your graph
appropriately. (You will not be graphing error bars on this graph)
Analysis
Ripening of fruit (including bananas) comes from a substance produced called ethylene. Ethylene is a hormone
that is made during certain developmental conditions to signal seeds to germinate, prompt leaves to change
colors, and trigger flower petals to die. Ethylene causes genes to be turned on, which in turn, causes a chain
reaction in the fruit. Enzymes called pectinases are made to break down cell walls and soften the fruit;
enzymes called amylases convert carbohydrates into simple sugars, and enzymes called hydrolases degrade
the chlorophyll content of the fruit resulting in color change. Such changes invite animals to consume the fruit
and disperse the mature undigested seeds via their defecation.

1. What role does starch and simple sugars play in fruit storage and ripening?

2. How are the monomers of glucose assembled and disassembled into starch and sugars?

3. How is the banana fruit sugar a representation of energy stored from photosynthesis by the banana
leaves?

4. What is the reason bananas ripen?

5. How do the graphs above correlate to your bananas in terms of starch → sugar content if green

bananas are 1-day, ripe bananas at 7 days and overripe at 15 days?

6. Why would the green banana fruits be high in starch? (Hint: think of what the fleshy white banana fruit
is hiding).