Centrifuges and Rotors

Bucket

When choosing a centrifuge, I recommend one that will create what are called horizontal separations when you complete the heavy liquid flotations. Angled separations, for various reasons, deposit material on the sides of the tube, and horizontal separations do not. Thus, horizontal separations will give you the cleanest sample possible, and the lack of debris will help when you are scanning slides later in the process.

Horizontal separation requires a rotor that has swing-out buckets instead of a fixed-angle rotor, and is more frequently used in “medical” or “clinical” centrifuges instead of “scientific” ones. Many clinical centrifuges also come with the option of refrigeration because they are used with tissue samples. Starch analysis does not require a refrigerated centrifuge.