Food Laboratory (FOOD6005)

Introduction
Report Format
Marking Key

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the laboratory component of Analytical Food Chemistry and Food Laboratory. These units
are very much lab focused and hence this represents an important part of the unit. In these labs you
will gain practical experience of a range of analytical methods that are of relevance to food analysis.
We hope you find these practicals interesting and enjoy the learning experiences that they give.

LABORATORY DEMONSTRATOR & LABORATORY STAFF

The laboratories in these unit will be demonstrated by Dr Tuna Dincer and supported by Dr Nasar
Abbas, Edwin Junaldi and Liliana Rejon Torres. If you have any queries regarding the laboratory classes
please contact Dr Vallet by email:

Dr Tuna Dincer

T.Dincer@curtin.edu.au

1
FOOD2002 & FOOD6005 Lab Manual - MLS - Curtin University
 SAFETY RULES
• the following regulations are enforced to minimise the risks of injury or accident in the
laboratory. Safety in the laboratory is ultimately the student’s responsibility.
• Students can only work in the laboratory under supervision.
• Adequate protective clothing must be worn in the laboratory ie. a laboratory coat and closed-
in shoes. When in the food lab, a separate lab coat must be worn. Hair must be tied back.
Wearing safety glasses is strongly recommended whilst in the laboratory and compulsory
when working at the fume hood.
• Smoking, eating, drinking and the application of cosmetics are forbidden in the laboratory.
• Wipe up any spillages as they occur. Wear gloves if cleaning up hazardous materials. All
spillages should be reported to the supervisor.
• Familiarise yourself with the location of the first aid box, eye wash sink, safety shower and fire
extinguishers.
• All accidents MUST be reported to the supervisor. If medical advice is required, the Curtin
Health Service’s internal phone number is 7345. For all emergencies, dial 0 000 from any on-
campus phone or 000 from a mobile phone.

GENERAL LABORATORY RULES

• Put all dirty glassware (emptied and rinsed) in the wash-up bins provided. Any acids or organic
solvents should be flushed down the fumehood sinks with plenty of water.
• All dirty pipettes must be soaked in the dirty pipette containers on the benches. Place Pasteur
pipettes and broken glass into the yellow Medicollect bins.
• All other special glassware and equipment must be returned to their appropriate cupboards and
drawers.
• Wipe down your bench with a sponge and soapy water provided and make sure your bench is
clean before you leave.
• Bring your pipette fillers, marking pens, raw data notebook and graph paper to each lab. They will
not be provided for you.
 GUIDELINES FOR LABORATORY REPORTS

When writing your lab reports always keep in mind that you need to include enough detail so that
someone else who wasn’t at the lab can understand not only what was done, but also how to interpret
the results that you obtained. However you can assume that the reader has a good knowledge of
analytical food chemistry (but that they just haven’t done the experiment you are writing about).

Your lab reports need to follow the format listed below:

TITLE PAGE
Practical session title, your name, student number, student e-mail address, unit title, name of
demonstrator, laboratory day and time, and submission date.

INTRODUCTION (1/2 - 1 PAGE (MAX))

In this section you should briefly outline the experiment/s that are being written up in this report. You
should also state why these determinations are important (ie why would someone in industry or
research conduct this type of experiments. You should provide evidence that the method/s used is/are
suitable for measurement in the food product you’ve used; the best way to do this is to refer to a
study (ie published in a journal) that has used the same or similar method to what you are using.
Finally in this section you should state the aim/s of the experiment/s. The aim/s should be stated in a
clear/succinct manner

METHODS (1 PARAGRAPH MAX)

In most cases you do not need to re-iterate the methods as they are followed directly from the lab
notes. However in some cases slight modifications may have been made, in which case you should
indicate that change in this section. But you also need to indicate the specific details that relate to
your experimental group – ie details of the food product/samples that you analysed. Other than these
specifics just state that the methods were followed as indicated in the lab notes for Analytical Food
Chemistry – FOOD2002 (or Food Laboratory – FOOD6005).

RESULTS (VARIABLE LENGTH DEPENDING ON EXPERIMENTS)

In this section you need to SUMMARISE the results that you have obtained. Often you will find that
this is best done using a table or graph however this depends on the nature of the experiment. Please
ensure though that if you provide your results in a table you should also have some text giving a
general overview of your findings and referring to the specific results in the tables/graphs. For example
“The results for % moisture are provided in table X…..” In most cases you will have needed to do some
form of calculation in order to determine your results. Unless otherwise indicated you should provide
ONE example of how you did this calculation (ie don’t need to show for all replicates/class results)

In cases where you are providing class results OR replicates you should also calculate summary
measures (ie mean, standard deviation, %CV) as well.
If you provide tables or graphs (figures) in this section you need to ensure that they are correctly
formatted. Each figure and table needs to be numbered consecutively throughout the report. Also
each figure/table should have a caption below it that clearly states the nature of the information in
that figure/table. It should be possible to understand most of the results in the table/figure without
having to search through the rest of your report to find out what the figure/table is showing.

In some cases you may need to provide class results and discuss your results in relation to the findings
of others; please use the facilities set up in blackboard for the purpose of sharing these results with
others in your class

IMPORTANTLY DO NOT DISCUSS YOUR RESULTS IN THIS SECTION

DISCUSSION (VARIABLE LENGTH – MODULES 1, 3 – 1 PAGE; MODULE 2 – 2 PAGES)

Summarise the main findings from the laboratory

Compare and contrast results obtained using different conditions and discuss the implications of these
differences (refer to specific results when you do this)

Discuss whether your findings are what you expected based on theory. Speculate on specific reasons
for deviations from what is expected.

Provide a brief summary of the implications of the findings that you have made in your experiment/s.

REFERENCES
Details of all cited information sources should be included at the end of your report. Please note that
the referencing style required in these units is APA 6th.

GENERAL REPORT PRESENTATION

• Pages should be numbered (including graphs) and your report should be submitted online as
a SINGLE DOCUMENT.
• Written style should be appropriate and scientific. Avoid the use of first person in scientific
reports e.g. "I/we found the following results" should be "the following results were found".
• Marks will be deducted for spelling mistakes, poor English expression, and untidy
presentation.
• If you use abbreviations you must use the full word the first time, with the abbreviation in
parentheses

LAB REPORT MARKING GUIDE

 Lab report section Criteria Marks
Title Page
All details provided 3

Introduction Intro/Aim requirements provided and are correct,

5
clear and concise
Methods
Referred to lab manual and provided additional
3
details where required

Results
Results summarised well AND
All figures, graphs, tables are correctly drawn, and 12
easy to interpret

Discussion Has provided a good summary of the main findings

of the study. Has also discussed findings/specific
results compared to theory where appropriate, and
17
summarised the implications of the findings.
Student shows good understanding of the
outcomes of the practical
Writing Style & Spelling, grammar,
sentence structure; formatting . Excellent scientific writing style and/or All
requirements 5
grammar/spelling correct and very well-written

References
Included information from other sources and has
5
adhered to formatting requirements
TOTAL
50

Notes: