Expt. 7 - Fat in Potato Chips

Experiment 7
HOW MUCH FAT IS IN POTATO CHIPS?

In performing this experiment, the student will
learn how to determine the fat content of a food sample using one of the most common
approaches
learn and follow proper techniques in measuring weight and volume
INTRODUCTION
Fat, sugar and salt are three food components that worry nutritionists especially since
Filipinos tend to consume too much of these food ingredients.
In this experiment, one common method will be used to determine the fat content of
foods. In fat-coated foods such as French fries, the fat can be dissolved out of the food using a
solvent. Other approaches must be used for products where the fat is bound up in other tissue
molecules.
The solvent, petroleum ether, will be mixed with ground-up chips to extract the fat. After
separating the solvent mixture from the chips, the solvent is allowed to evaporate, leaving behind
the fat that can then be weighed.
MATERIALS
(L) analytical or triple-beam balance, mortar and pestle, glass funnel and funnel
support, filter paper, beakers (50 mL), spatula, hot plate or steam bath,
graduated cylinder (100 mL), petroleum ether (50 mL)
(S) one small bag of chips
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
Petroleum ether is extremely flammable. Therefore it is absolutely essential that no open
flames be present anywhere in the laboratory during this experiment. Under no
circumstances should the heating be done with a Bunsen burner or alcohol lamp.
PROCEDURE
1. Obtain two 50-mL beakers that are clean and dry.
2. Accurately weigh out two samples of chips of about 3 grams each. This is done most
conveniently by using small sheets of paper. Record the mass of the first paper, then add
2 3 grams of chips, and again record the mass. Repeat with the second sample. Keep
track of which sample is which.
Reminder about weighing: It is important to check the balance each time it is used to be
sure it reads 0.00 g when there is nothing on the balance pan.
3. Also weigh the two 50-mL beakers and record their masses in the appropriate places in
the data table (see the worksheet).
4. Put chip sample # 1 in a clean mortar and pestle and grind the mixture thoroughly.
5. Add 15 mL of petroleum ether to the mortar and mix thoroughly.
6. Prepare a glass funnel with folded filter paper. Mount it over weighed beaker # 1. Using
a spatula, carefully transfer the ground chip mixture into the filter paper. Try to get all of
the mixture into the filter.
7. In order to rinse out any remaining fat in the mortar and on the chip mixture, add 5 mL
more petroleum ether to the mortar, stir it around with the pestle, then pour it onto the
chip mixture in the filter.
8. Repeat with another 5 mL rinse of the mortar and the chip mixture in the filter.
9. Repeat steps 4 to 8 with the second sample of chips using the same mortar and pestle but
a fresh piece of filter paper and weighed beaker # 2.
10. When both mixtures have finished filtering, the next step is to remove all of the
petroleum ether by evaporation. There are two ways this can be done.
(a) You can leave the beakers in the fume hood until the next day or lab period, by
which time the solvent will have evaporated.
(b) A much faster way is to place the beakers on a steam bath or hot plate in a fume
hood. Leave them for about 15 minutes or until all of the petroleum ether has
evaporated. Then, remove the beakers from the steam bath or hot plate, carefully
wipe the outsides to remove all water, and let them cool for a few minutes.
11. Reweigh the beakers and record the masses.
Clean Up
Discard the filter paper and chip mixtures in a designated container. The instructor will specify
what to do with the mortar and pestle and the beakers.
Calculations
For each sample, calculate by subtraction the mass of chips and mass of fat. Then, calculate the
percent fat in the chips:
% fat = mass of fat
mass of chips
x 100
Sharing Your Results

Share your results with others in your class. It will probably be advantageous to report your two
results separately rather than as an average. If others analyzed the same brand, you can check
how closely you agree. Examining the class data as a whole, you can look for differences and
possible generalizations about different types of snack chips.
Questions
1. If your class analyzed any low fat or no fat products, do the results support this
claim? If not, suggest a reasonable explanation.
2. A snack pack of potato chips holds 28 grams of chips. Based on your data, how much fat
is present in a snack pack? In such a bag of chips, there are about 15 grams of
carbohydrate and about 1 gram of protein. Given that carbohydrates and protein provide
about 4 Calories of energy per gram and fats provide about 9 Calories per gram, what is
the total energy equivalent (in Calories) of a bag of chips? What percent of Calories are
from fat?
Experiment 7
HOW MUCH FAT IS IN POTATO CHIPS?
Group No. ____
Name: _________________________________
Groupmate:
Date: _____________
Section:
Objectives:
Brand of chips: _______________________________
Mass of dish + chips
Mass of empty dish
Mass of chips
Mass of beaker + fat
Mass of empty beaker
Mass of fat
Percent fat in chips
Trial 1
Trial 2
Answers to Questions:
1. If your class analyzed any low fat or no fat products, do the results support this claim? If
not, suggest a reasonable explanation.
2. A snack pack of potato chips holds 28 grams of chips. Based on your data, how much fat is
present in a snack pack? In such a bag of chips, there are about 15 grams of carbohydrate
and about 1 gram of protein. Given that carbohydrates and protein provide about 4 Calories
of energy per gram and fats provide about 9 Calories per gram, what is the total energy
equivalent (in Calories) of a bag of chips? What percent of Calories are from fat?

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Experiment 7

HOW MUCH FAT IS IN POTATO CHIPS?

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