how to monitor fatty ingredient in potato - SOS (Mar/30/2007 )

hello everyone.

I am studying the oil permeability inside the potato chips. That means I would like slice up the chips and staining with specific dye or antibody for fat drops and observe the oil permeable depth with confocal microscope or fluorescent microscope.

I want to ask your help on suggesting such specific dye or antibody for fat drops. Or if you have even better idea for ly studying objective§§ I am new learner for histology and immunology, please give some help.

thanks a lot

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Hello Lilylille,

First, there is very little chance that you find an antibody that will bind to a fatty acid. Because fatty acids are very little immunogens. If fatty acids are bind to a sugar or a protein, this increase the immunogenicity of the molecule, but this is a case by case think. In biology there are the oil O red staining that bien to fat drops in tissues (for example atherosclerotic blood vessel), but the case of a potatoe, I am not sure that it can work, especially because it will be bette to embedded the chip in a medium (paraffine or another medium) and also because you will get very strong signal, most of the potatoe chip is filled by fat, but you can try, this could work, but in this case I would suggest to you to cut the slices very thin, about 4 microns... If you need protocols for this, I can probably help you.

But if I understand your goal, you want a picture to see and maybe calculate the amount of fat in chips. Why dont you extract the fat by organic phase extractions? You wheigh your chips, you extract the fat and then you can measure it with a kit, the Wako company are doing many kits in that way!

Good luck!

Brassap

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