Do you have caffeine? The camel will help you know
2006/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
To measure the content of black coffee, decaffeinated coffee and other drinks, the chemists of the University of Washington have created a simple and useful test.
Simple tests to measure the concentration of certain fluids in certain molecules are usually strips of paper. Entering the liquid list changes color and its color depends on the molecular concentration. This is, for example, the pregnancy test.
These simple tests include antibodies associated with the molecule to be detected. In the pregnancy test, the antibody binds to a hormone in the urine. This hormone only appears in urine if you are pregnant.
There are also antibodies associated with caffeine. But they have a big drawback: heat destroys. Consequently, they cannot be used to measure the concentration of caffeine in hot drinks.
However, the chemists at the University of Washington find that camels' relatives have antibodies in the blood that bind to caffeine and are heat-resistant. That is, even if they are put in very hot coffee, they are not eliminated. Thus, they have tested these antibodies in different drinks and at different temperatures, obtaining very good results.
