Starches in Plants

We previously tested a variety of food products for starch and hopefully you reached the conclusion that starch is found in food that is derived from plants.

Unfortunately, it can be hard to test for starch in a lot of plants because of their natural pigments.

Here’s one technique:

Soak a piece of spinach in rubbing alcohol overnight.  You can speed up this process by heating the rubbing alcohol.  Just be careful - alcohol is flammable. 

Pat dry. (Don’t rinse it).

Test with a drop of iodine. Remember black indicates the presence of starch.

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Presented at the 2003 New Jersey Science Convention.