Explain about the Amino Acids and Proteins?
We shall now study the properties of amino acids which we know are the building blocks of proteins. In this practical, we shall carry out specific tests in the laboratory and differentiate between the different amino acids. Further, the process for the separation of amino acids using paper chromatography shall be conducted. The second part of this practical focuses on proteins. We know that all proteins contain nitrogen in addition to carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and some other elements like sulphur.
Thus, determination of nitrogen is commonly used to determine the protein content of a sample. In fact, several methods for protein estimation are available. We shall study about two such important and practical methods we can use in the laboratory for protein estimation. These include: kjeldahl's method and the biuret method. Using these methods we shall actually estimate the protein content of the given sample in the laboratory.