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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