ANALYSIS OF CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF LIVING ORGANISMS l NEET UG I NOTES

 ANALYSIS OF CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF LIVING ORGANISMS

To analyse the chemical composition of living organisms, weigh and grind a living 

tissue like a piece of liver or any fruit, in trichloroacetic acid.

The thick slurry obtained is filtered through a cheese cloth or cotton; we obtain two 

fractions:

(I) One is called filtrate or the acid-soluble pool containing micromolecules.

(II) Second is called pellet or retentate or the acid-insoluble pool containing 

macromolecules.

To know about the inorganic compounds and elements in the living tissue, we use a 

technique called 'ash' analysis.

- A small amount of living tissue is weighed to get the fresh/wet weight.

- This is dried for all the water to evaporate and we get dry weight.

- When this tissue is fully burnt, the carbon compounds are oxidised to carbon dioxide 

and water and the remnant is called 'ash'; it contains many inorganic elements like 

calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, etc.

A comparison of elements present in Non-living and living matter.

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