Wednesday, January 29, 2020

What are the Disadvantages of Junk Food?

The Disadvantages of Junk Food are as Follows.
  • The more we consume junk food, the fewer intakes of nutrients that a healthy body needs.
  • The fast-food can harm our health; obesity is one of the most common side effects of intake such type of food.
  • Junk food contains calories and fat which contributes to weight gain. Obesity can cause many health problems such as heart diseases, joint pain, and diabetes.
  • Excess intake of junk food causes the body to lose important nutrients and amino acids.
  • Low-quality junk foods are inadequate of vitamins and nutrients necessary for proper growth and development of the body.
  • It is a processed food that is low in nutritional value. Excessive consumption can lead to high consumption of calories, sodium, and saturated fat.
  • These types of foods often have an unbalanced ratio of fat, refined carbohydrates, and sugar.
  • Eating in excess can increase the "bad" cholesterol in your bloodstream which endangers your heart health.
  • Junk food can cause people to suffer from obesity because it has an unbalanced ratio of sugars, fats, and carbohydrates.
  • Fast food can be rich in sugar it may lead to developing cavities (tooth decay) in children as well as elders.
  • Eating too much fast food can cause digestion problems.
  • Refined carbohydrates present in junk food that alter blood sugar levels can also cause fatigue, anxiety, confusion, and blood pressure.
  • Nowadays a major problem with junk food is that people can like it a lot more than healthy food and that tend to replace healthy foods.
Some examples of junk food are Chips, Burgers, Snacks, Cold drinks, Chocolates, Fried, Stuff, Ice Cream, Potato Chips, Pizza, Cakes, Donuts, Candies, Noodles, Cheese Stuff, and Soft Drinks, etc.


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What is fast food?
What are the types of fast food?
Fast food and obesity
Effects of fast food on health
Harmful effects of fast food on health
What are the advantages of fast food?
Advantages and disadvantages of fast food
Advantages and Disadvantages of Junk Food
What are the Advantages of Junk Food

What are the Advantages of Junk Food

Junk food is a kind of food high in calories (fat, sugar). It has some amount of minerals, vitamins, protein, dietary fiber, and significant nutritional value. Junk foods are processed foods consisting of high calories, though not all fast foods are junk foods. Junk foods are processed foods consisting of high calories it may cause obesity, but if you take them carefully you can maintain your body weight.
The Advantages of Junk Food are as Follows.
  • Fast food is very good in taste and they are also available in different types that are why it is addictive for us.
  • Junk food is cheaper than other foods. This is the biggest benefit of junk food.
  • As compared to cooking lunch or dinner at home, selecting junk food saves 50% of the time.
  • The fast-food industry provides significant employment and economic boost.
  • It is a time-saving food that helps you manage work schedules more efficiently.
  • When you go to eat at fast-food restaurants, they are served more beautiful.
  • Junk food items are cheaper foods than other foods that give you more calories.
  • Nowadays fast food restaurants provide a healthier option than ever before.
  • Fast food packing looks good and they provide you with all the nutritional information for each item.

What are the causes of broad peaks in HPLC?

The presence of unusually broad peaks is sometimes an occurring problem in liquid chromatography separation. This problem is regularly seen in isocratic separation; however, it can also occur with gradient elution. The peak broadening in HPLC is influenced by the flow rate of the mobile phase and particle size of the columns packing material. The smaller the particle with the latter, the better is the peak resolution. It is recommended that the chromatographers can try and optimize the composition and flow rate of the mobile phase and check the type of column used.
The peak broadening in high-performance liquid chromatography is due to several factors mentioned below.

  • In a very short time, several steps of gradient elution are changing from polar to non-polar.
  • Some precipitate in the sample solution.
  • Overloading of column (too much sample load)
  • Too long Retention time (RT)
  • Extra-column volume too large
  • Detector time too slow
  • Poor solubility of the sample
  • Incompletely filled sample loops
  • Saturation of the Detector
  • Contaminated column
  • Incorrect pH of the buffer or mobile phase 
 
 

Monday, January 27, 2020

Principle and Procedure of Thin Layer Chromatography

Learn the principle of TLC, types of TLC, applications of TLC and how its works.

What is Thin Layer Chromatography?

Thin-layer chromatography is a technique in which the analytes of a mixture are separated by differential migration through the stationary phase. TLC is performed on glass, aluminum or plastic sheets. It is coated with a thin layer of adsorbent material, typically made using silica gel, aluminum oxide, or cellulose and is known as a stationary phase. After applying the sample to the TLC plate, a mobile phase (solvent mixture) is drawn up to the plate by capillary action. Since each analyte has a different affinity to the TLC plate; hence separation is achieved at different rates.

Thin Layer Chromatography Principle:

TLC is a separation technique where the molecules of mixtures separate using differential migration through a stationary phase, the solvent mixture flowing through the virtue of capillary forces. After chromatography is complete, solutes are detected on the surface of a TLC plate by visualizing the reagents and using a UV cabinet. TLC is a type of planar chromatography, such as paper chromatography, but the stationary phase in TLC is a thin-split Sorbent, which spreads as a thin layer of aluminum, glass, or plastic supporting flat plate.

Thin Layer Chromatography Diagram:


Principle and Procedure of Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC)

Thin Layer Chromatography Procedure:

Before beginning a TLC experiment, we must recognize the various components essential to perform the process.
Thin Layer Chromatography Chamber: To develop the plates, the TLC chamber is used. This maintains a stable environment and prevents solvent evaporation, which helps spots develop.
Thin Layer Chromatography Plates: The separation occurs on the TLC plate, in which the stationary phase is applied as a thin layer on its surface. Nowadays, ready plates are available in the market. They are chemically inert, stable and of high quality.
Thin Layer Chromatography Mobile phase: A solvent or mixture of solvents with suitable polarity is used as the mobile phase to achieve the required separation.

Experimental Procedure of TLC:

  1. The adequate mobile phase is poured into a TLC chamber to give liquid about 0.5 cm deep. Subsequently, cover the chamber for a few minutes to allow the atmosphere to become saturated with solvent vapor.
  2. The small amount of liquid sample is “spotted” on the TLC plate with close to an edge and parallel with an edge. The plate is then placed in contact with the mobile phase in the chamber and is covered.
  3. The mobile phase is drawn from the edge of the TLC plate through the Sorbent bed, mainly by capillary action, Allow the development process until the mobile phase is approximately half a centimeter below the top of the TLC plate. The mobile phase and sample are displaced in parallel passages in the direction of flow, and the components separate according to their affinity.
  4. Remove the plate from the chamber and mark it immediately in front of the solvent.
  5. Allow the plate to dry with warm air or room temperature.
  6. Circle the visual spot lightly with a pencil. Most analytes are not colored they are to be visualized by spraying chromogenic reagent or in UV cabinet. Mark the sample spot and calculate the Rf value. The retention factor (Rf value) will always be in the range 0 to 1.

Thin Layer Chromatography Applications:

  • It is used to separate and identify the number of components present in a sample mixture.
  • TLC can be used to select the appropriate mobile phase system in column chromatography.
  • It is used for the separation and identification of sweetening agents, preservatives, dyes, and different cosmetic products.
  • It is used for the separation and identification of food products, pharmaceutical formulations, and natural products.
  • Thin-layer chromatography can be used to monitor the progress and the rate of reactions at particular intervals.

Advantages of Thin Layer Chromatography:

  • TLC is a very easy and sensitive mode of separating analytes.
  • The molecules are separated in a short period, as they are quickly eluted.
  • Very small amounts of the sample need to be analyzed.
  • A complex mixture of sample solution can be easily separated and recovered.
  • This can be automated using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC).
  • This requires very few types of apparatus.

Disadvantages of Thin Layer Chromatography:

  • Only non-volatile compounds are separated by this method.
  • It is difficult to reproduce to obtain from TLC.
  • The separation length in TCL is insufficient, as it does not have a long stationary phase.
  • Humidity and Temperature can affect TLC results.
  • Another disadvantage of TLC is that it only analyzes soluble analytes.
Commonly asked questions on chromatography are as follows.

What is the principle of TLC?
TLC comprises a stationary and mobile phase, in which a thin layer of alumina or silica is coated on glass, metal, or plastic that is a stationary phase and a solvent or mixture of solvents is a mobile phase. The sample mixture travels through the stationary phase with the mobile phase and separates according to the degree of their adhesion.

What type of chromatography is TLC?
Thin-layer chromatography is a type of planar chromatography.

What is the TLC plate made of?
Generally, TLC plates are made using silica gel, cellulose, aluminum oxide or similar material. A thin layer of special granular ground matrix is coated as on a glass plate, aluminum or a plastic film.

What does TLC Rf value mean?
It is the proportion of separation traveled by an analyte to distance traveled by a mobile phase front. It is used to identify analytes due to their specificity for each compound.

What is the major advantage of thin-layer chromatography?
The major advantage of TLC is that many samples can be analyzed simultaneously over rapid time.

What is the major difference between TLC and HPTLC?
The major difference between TLC and HPTLC is that the particle size of the absorbing material. An HPTLC plate contains very small particles of adsorbent material while the TLC contains larger particles.


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Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Advantages and disadvantages of universal indicator solution


The pH indicator is a chemical compound that is added to the sample solution to easily determine the pH. The pH is the determination of the concentrations of hydronium ions in aqueous solutions. It is determined on a negative logarithmic scale from pH 0 to 14. Neutral solutions are pH 07, acidic is below pH 07, and basic is above 07 pH. Water is the best example of a neutral pH. The pH can be determined in different ways, such as pH paper, litmus paper, pH indicator and pH meter.
The advantages of universal indicator solution are as follows.
  • Basically, it is used to determine the estimated pH of a solution.
  • It covers the whole range of pH.
  • We can use simple acid-base indicators only to identify the nature of a sample, whether it is a base or an acid. But the universal indicator is used to determine the strength of a sample by indicating its pH value.
  • Like the pH meter, there is no waiting time for equilibrium, it gives fast measurements.
  • The universal indicator gives high accuracy results even with the weak buffer solutions.
  • If we follow the labeled instruction to store, it has good stability.
  • A wide range of colors is produced according to the strength of the acid or base.
  • This allows you to detect more things than an ordinary indicator.
The disadvantages of universal indicator solution are as follows.
  • When using liquid pH indicators, the sample solution should, preferably, be clear and colorless.
  • The pH meter is more accurate than indicators
  • The major disadvantage of the universal indicator solution is that it is non-reusable.
  • This can cause environmental pollution.
  • If the sample is contaminated, the result may be incorrect.

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Advantages and disadvantages of pH indicators


Advantages and disadvantages of pH indicators

A variety of pH indicators are available which are chemical compounds and that are added to the sample solution to determine the pH. Typically, by adding a pH indicator it detects hydrogen ions and the color of the solution changes according to the pH level. Phenolphthalein, bromothymol blue, methyl red, and Universal indicators are the most commonly used indicators indicating a pH range of about 8 to 10, 6 to 7.5, 4.5 to 6, and 1-14 accordingly.

The advantages of pH indicators are as follows.

  • This technique of determining pH is quick, inexpensive, and easy.
  • They quickly determine the nature of the sample, whether it is acidic or a basic.
  • They save time and money produces fast results.
  • This is quick and easy using than pH meter.
  • The pH indicators are very simple to use, you just have to add a few drops to the sample.

The disadvantages of pH indicators are as follows.

  • The sample solution must be colorless enough to clearly observe the changes in the color of the indicator.
  • An indicator is not functional above its pH range because the indicator does not change color at these pH values.
  • If the substance or sample is contaminated, the color may be wrong.
  • Acid-base indicators show just one or two color changes.
  • Indicators measure pH at low accuracy, they only indicate sample acidity or alkalinity and not exact pH.


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Tuesday, January 21, 2020

How to reduce peak broadening in HPLC?

Peak broadening is an occurrence in high-performance liquid chromatography separation that decreases separation efficiency causes leading to poor resolution of analytes. The ideal peaks in chromatography are symmetric and Gaussian. Peak fronting or tailing appears in the asymmetric peaks. Peak fronting or tailing may occur due to poor quality of the HPLC column or dead volume of the system. 

Peak broadening is caused by a number of factors that are mentioned here, and avoiding them may help reduce peak broadening in HPLC. 

  • The peak broadening is influenced by the flow rate of the mobile phase and particle size of the packing material in the HPLC columns. The smaller the particle with the latter, the better is the peak resolution.
  • Small columns and high amounts of sample lead to peak broadening.
  • Ensure the injected volume and concentration of the target component in the sample.
  • The mobile phase composition in gradient mode is steep towers that change from polar to non-polar in very little time.
  • Precipitation in the sample causes slow dissolution and release of the component; you have to centrifuge and filter before loading into the injector.
  • Check the number of theoretical plates for chromatographic columns and regulate the load accordingly.
  • Use the appropriate wavelength of the analyte.
  • If the current flow rate does not work, then you can work with a higher flow rate to get symmetrical peak shape.
  • Ensure that there is no leakage between the column and the detector.
  • Too long tubing between the column and HPLC detector.
  • Sometimes the tubing ID is too large, which causes the peak to broadening.
  • Make it feasible to inject the sample into the same solvent that is used in the mobile phase.
  • Periodically check the performance of columns; older columns reflect peak tailing and other performance issues.
  • While using just water in the mobile phase, it may be essential to manage the pH to control the charge of molecules of interest.
  • Buffers are considered capable of improving the shape of the peak when selected at the proper pH level to control ionization.
  • You can reduce peak broadening by using different types of buffers such as acetate or phosphate buffer solutions, these adjusted to the suitable pH as per the pKa value of the molecule.