Sweetness Lab Conclusion

     The purpose of this lab was to test if the structure of the carbohydrate affects the taste (sweetness).  Based on my prior knowledge to this experiment, I can form a hypothesis "If monosaccharide have greater sweetness than disaccharides and polysaccharides, then fructose will be the sweetest carbohydrate.  After our group ran the lab, the data suggested that fructose was the sweetest carbohydrate.  On a scale of 1-200, fructose ranked the highest out of all the carbohydrates our group tested.  Fructose was the sweetest with a rating of 185, glucose with 150, sucrose with 100, maltose with 90, galactose with 75, lactose with 50, starch with 5, and cellulose with 0.  From collecting information in step two, our group made an assumption that fructose would be the sweetest because of the function.  Fructose is commonly added into foods and drinks for palatablity, taste enhancements, and improved browning on different foods.  After collecting information about different carbohydrates in step two and conducting the Sweetness Lab, our evidence strongly suggested that the fructose is the sweetest carbohydrates.  Before the experiment, our group collected information about each carbohydrate.  The information includes what type of carbohydrate it is, what it looks like, and the function of each carbohydrate.  After collecting information, I guessed that fructose would be the sweetest carbohydrate because the function of the carbohydrate was the make food palatable and to enhance the taste of the food.  After collecting data from our lab, the evidence suggested that fructose is the sweetest because it ranked the highest on the scale of 1-200.  Fructose ranked the highest with a rank of 185 and glucose ranked second with a rank of 150.

     There are three different types of carbohydrates.  The three carbohydrates are monosaccharide, disaccharide, and polysaccharide.  All three types of carbohydrates have the word saccharide.  The prefix in front of the saccharide are mono, di, and poly.  All three of these prefixes have different meanings.  Mono, means one, di means two, and poly means many or multiple.  From this given information, you can tell the definitions of the three carbohydrates.  Monosaccharide means one ring, disaccaride means two rings, and polysaccharide means three or more rings.  From the lab, the monosaccharides held higher scores, the disaccharides held the middle scores, and the polysaccharides held the lowest scores.  I can conclude from this that one ring of carbohydrates are the sweetest.  Also, I can conclude that more rings will equal to less sweet or more bland.  For example, starch held a low score of 50.  Starch can be found in potatoes and potatoes are not sweet.  The structure of the carbohydrate matters because the less rings there are, the more sweet the carbohydrate will be.

     The testers in my group did not give all the same scores.  There are three reasons why our group varied scores.  The first reason could be the amount of the carbohydrate the person tasted.  One person could of tasted a lot and another person could taste a little bit.  The second reason could be the order of the carbohydrates that are tasted.  If we tested the carbohydrates in the sweetest first, the starch would be lower that it should be.  The third reason could be that each person has a different opinion of how sweet something.  Each person has tried different things and could be use to sweets so they would give a lesser score.

     According to PudMed Health, the reason why humans taste sweetness is because of the derivatives of sugar such as fructose or lactose.  Also, other things could activate the sensory cells that responds to sweetness.  This includes protein building blocks such as amino acids.  Different people in my group varied their scores because each person might have more or less sensory cells to trigger the sensation of sweetness.