Abstract

Brian Farber

We conducted a comparison between Macintosh apples and Bartlett pears to see how closely related they are. We ran tests to compare carbohydrate, pigment, and enzyme

composition of these two fruits. We performed Benedict's test for reducing sugars, and Barfoed's test for monosaccharide reducing sugars. Selivanoff's test was used to find

which fruits have sugars containing ketone groups and which have aldose groups. Bial's test showed which fruits contained a furanose ring. An iodine test was used to detect

starch in the fruits. We used a glucose meter to measure glucose levels in the two fruits. We did paper chromatography and absorption and action spectra tests to show their

photosynthetic relationship. The paper chromatography test showed the pigments contained within each fruit's leaves. The absorption spectrum of both fruits was found to

see the wavelengths of light that their chloroplasts will absorb. The action spectrum was also found for each fruit to see how fast they proceed through photosynthesis under

different light conditions. We assessed both fruits to check for the presence of PPO. A test to see how heat and inhibitors affects the enzymes of the fruits was also

conducted. A test to see how pH affects the enzymes was also performed. The Bradford Assay was also done to see the protein concentration of each fruit. It was

concluded that Mackintosh Apples and Bartlett pears both contain the same carbohydrate structure and the same photosynthetic material. However pears contain higher

levels of protein and lower levels of glucose.

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