Breakfast Cereal (Cheerios)
Bullet Blender® homogenization protocol

  • Wet final product
  • Sample sizes: 10 to 300 mg.

Notes on the protocol: This protocol does not specify a particular buffer - you may choose which is most appropriate for your downstream application (nucleic acid isolation, protein extraction, etc.).

Materials Required

uL

One of these Bullet Blenders

  • Bullet Blender (BBX24)
  • Bullet Blender Blue (BBX24B)
  • Bullet Blender Storm 24 (BBY24M)
  • Bullet Blender 24 Gold (BB24-AU)

Reagents

Homogenization buffer
500 ul

Bead choices

  • RED bead lysis kit (RED)
  • 0.5 mm zirconium silicate beads (ZSB05) use 200ul beads
  • 1.0 mm zirconium silicate beads (ZSB10) use 200ul beads
  • Bead combination:
    0.5 mm zirconium oxide beads (ZROB05) use 100ul beads plus
    1.0 mm zirconium oxide beads (ZROB10) use 100ul beads

Procedure

  1. Cut the sample into appropriately sized pieces. For larger samples, we recommend cutting the material into long, thin strips for faster homogenization.
  2. Place the sample in the tube with the beads.
  3. Add 500uL of homogenization buffer.
  4. Close the tubes tightly and place them in the Bullet Blender.
  5. Set the controls for Speed 8 and Time 2. Press Start.
  6. After the run, remove the tubes from the instrument and visually inspect the samples. If homogenization is incomplete, repeat the homogenization step at a higher speed.
  7. After the run, remove the tubes from the instrument. If a thinner homogenate is desired, you may add additional buffer to the tube.
  8. Proceed with your downstream application.