Components of Food

Components of Food

The Chemical constituents of food which give us energy, help to build our body and protect us from diseases are called Nutrients.

1. Carbohydrate

2. Proteins

3. Fats

4. Vitamins

5. Minerals

6. Water.

Activity 2

Collect as many food items as you can and classify them according to the major nutrient content in it.

1. Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are energy giving component of the food.

We can obtain carbohydrates in the form of Sugar, starch and dietary fibres

Activity 3

Aim:

To test the presence of Carbohydrate as Starch in the given food item.

What do you need?

Boiled potato, dropper and dilute Iodine solution

How to do: Smash the boiled potato.

Add two or three drops of dilute Iodine solution on the Sample

What do you see?

The potato turns blue-black in colour.

What do you learn?

Iodine reacts with Starch to form Starch-Iodine complex which is blue-black in colour. Thus, the appearance of blue-black colour confirms the presence of Starch in the food item

2. Fats

Fat is also an energy-giving food and provides more energy than Carbohydrates. Some important sources of fats are butter, ghee, milk, cheese, paneer, nuts, meat, fish, egg yolk etc. Apart from giving energy, they insulate our body and protect the cells.

Activity 4

Aim:

To test the presence of Fat in the given food item.

What do you need?

Coconut Oil,  groundnut oil, and any Paper.

How to do:

Pour few drops of oil onto the paper and rub it gently with your finger.

In case of ground nut, crush the groundnut and place it on a paper Now rub the groundnut on the paper

What do you see?

The paper turns translucent and becomes greasy .

What do you learn?

The given food sample contains fat

3. PROTEIN

Body Building Foods

Proteins are necessary for our growth and repair, as well as for regulating various body functions such as digestion. The sources of proteins are pulses, eggs, fish, milk, chicken, soya bean, nut, grams etc, Proteins are body building foods.

Soyabean is the highly rich source of protein.

Activity 5

Aim:

To test the presence of Protein in the given food item.

What do you need?

egg white, Copper sulphate solution,

Sodium hydroxide , Test tube and Bunsen burner.

How to do:

Take a small amount of the food sample (egg white) and put in the test tube.

Add some water to the test tube and shake it.

Next, heat the test tube for about one minute. After the test tube has cooled down, and two drops each of Copper sulphate solution and Sodium hydroxide to it.

What do you see?

The food sample turns purple or violet.

What do you learn?

Change in colour of the given food sample turns purple or violet confirms the presence of Protein.

4. Vitamins

Vitamins are required for carrying out various biochemical reactions in our body. Fruits, vegetables, grains, meat products are good sources of vitamins. Vitamins are called as protective food. There are six major vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K. Vitamins B and Vitamins C are water soluble, Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble.

Just Think

A medical camp was conducted in School. Most of the children were healthy. Some of the students had some health issues

Priya had bleeding gums.

Raja could not see clearly in dim light.

Arun had bent legs .

Can you guess what could be the reasons?

This is because of deficiency of vitamins C, A and D respectively.

Fact File

Sun screen lotion reduces your skin's ability to produce Vitamin D by up to 95% which may lead to Vitamin D deficiency.

Activity 6

Make your food little healthier. What do you need?

A small cup of green gram seeds, Water and thin cloth.

How to do:

Soak the green gram seedsinwaterover.

Takeout the seeds and strain the water.

Wrap the seeds in wet thin cloth.

Keep it for a day or two.

Sprinkle some water whenever it is dry.

What do you see?

You can see white sprouts coming out of the seeds.

What do you learn?

green gram sprouts are low in calories, have fibre and Vitamin B. It has comparatively high amount of vitamin C and vitamin K

Gooseberries contains nearly 20 times the vitamin C than Orange.

5. Minerals

Minerals are required for growth as well as for the regulation of normal body function.Green leafy vegetables like spinach, pulses, eggs, milk, fish and fruits are important sources of minerals in our diet. Minerals are also a protective foods.

80% of the world production of Moringa Leaves is in India. The Major countries which import Moringa Leaves are China, US, Germany, Canada, South Korea and European countries.

Fact File

Moringa leaves are rich in

Vitamin A,

Vitamin C,

Potassium,

Calcium,

Iron and

Protein.

It also contains

Powerful anti oxidants

6. Water

Our body needs an adequate supply of water is order to maintain good health. Any human being should take minimum eight tumblers ( 2 Litres) of water every day.

Complete the following Table 4