Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi Everyone,

I'd like to purify starch I extracted from a vegetable using Schweizer's reagent to get rid of the cellulose. If I put my current starch in a solution of Schweizer's reagent, would the starch precipitate and the cellulose dissolve? I am trying to make an edible bioplastic, so could I still use the starch to make an edible bioplastic? How exactly would I take out the precipitate?

Thanks,
hello1910

Hello there,

I did a quick google search on Schweizer's reagent and the wikipedia page for it says that cellulose is soluble in the reagent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schweizer's_reagent). However, I'm not exactly sure how starch would behave in the reagent. Are there any experts in this forum who are biochemists who are able to help with this question? You may also consider posting in the Grades 9-12: Physical Sciences forum because there may be chemists there who know how to work with this reagent, and it may be useful to get their insight on this.

Where did you get the Schweizer's reagent? If you bought it from somewhere, it may be useful to contact the manufacturer and ask them about how the molecules you're working with would behave in this reagent.

Sorry that I couldn't be of more help, since I'm not a biochemist or chemist, but hopefully other experts who know a lot more about this reagent can help you!

Best,
Connie

Thanks for the info!