When carrying the starch test on a leaf, why is it important to boil the leaf in an alcohol?
(a) To dissolve the waxy cuticle (b) To make the cells more permeable to iodine solution
(c) To remove the chlorophyll (d) To stop the chemical reaction in the cell

Question

When carrying the starch test on a leaf, why is it important to boil the leaf in an alcohol?
(a)	To dissolve the waxy cuticle (b) To make the cells more permeable to iodine solution
(c) To remove the chlorophyll (d) To stop the chemical reaction in the cell

MyClass24 · Accepted Answer

(a) To remove the chlorophyll
On boiling the leaf in alcohol, the leaf becomes decolorized, and when it is treated with iodine, the blue- black color clearly indicates the presence of starch. To avoid the interference of green color, it is treated with alcohol.

When carrying the starch test on a leaf, why is it important to boil the leaf in an alcohol? (a) To dissolve the waxy cuticle (b) To make the cells more permeable to iodine solution (c) To remove the chlorophyll (d) To stop the chemical reaction in the cell