title: Touring the Tomato: A Suite of Chemistry Laboratory Experiments.
abstract: An eight-session interdisciplinary laboratory curriculum has been designed using a suite of analytical chemistry techniques to study biomaterials derived from an inexpensive source such as the tomato fruit. A logical progression of research-inspired laboratory modules serves to "tour" the macroscopic characteristics of the fruit and the submicroscopic properties of its constituent cuticular biopolymers by atomic force microscopy (AFM), UV-visible, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods at increasingly detailed molecular levels. The modular curriculum can be tailored for specialty undergraduate courses or summer high school workshops. By applying analytical tools to investigate biopolymers, making connections between molecular and microscale structure, and linking both structural regimes to the functional properties of natural polymers, groundwork is established for further student investigations at the interface of chemistry with biology or chemical engineering.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, City College of New York, Graduate Center and Institute for Macromolecular Assemblies, City University of New York, New York, New York 10031, United States.
authors.forename: Sayantani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.forename: Subhasish
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.forename: Ruth E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Stark
keywords: Bioanalytical Chemistry; Biophysical Chemistry; Curriculum; HPLC; Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives; High School/Introductory Chemistry; Laboratory Instruction; NMR Spectroscopy; Pedagogy; UV-Vis Spectroscopy; Upper-Division Undergraduate