Science-molecules and the mind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Science-molecules and the mind - Essay Example Ethylenediamine Tetraacetic acid (EDTA) is a well-known sequestering agent with the capacity to chelate almost every positive ion in the periodic table. The EDTA molecule can bind to metal ions by forming six bonds (and six rings) to it - two from nitrogen atoms in amino groups and four from oxygen atoms in carboxyl groups. As the number of ring enclosures is very large (six) the formed chelate is very stable. Obviously, it is the most widely used chelating molecule. Answer: Metals contaminate the food by finding their way from the soil and from machinery during harvesting and processing. Metals such as copper, iron and nickel degrade the quality of food stuffs by catalyzing the oxidation of the fats and oils in the food. Due to this oxidation, the oil becomes rancid. Rancid oils are a major source of free radicals in our diet which can cause cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases associated with them. Hence the metal ions in oil-based foods can cause severe health problems and it is important to remove them from oil-based foods. Sequestering agents can be used to remove these metal ions from oils. EDTA is commonly added to fatty, oily foods as an antioxidant that prevents metal ions that have entered from metallic food-processing equipment. Answer: Washing the oily spot with plain water is di