Bread experiment

Kaizzee · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:18 am Post subject: Bread experiment

Hey everyone,
I'm doing a science experiments on mould:
Does sugar or salt preserve bread better?

If you know the answer please don't tell me the answer but if you have a suggestion or prediction, I would like to hear about it.

My prediction is:
Salt will be a better preservative because it takes the moisture away from the bread.

There are lots of fun experiments you can do with bread, most involving mould. I'll tell you how it goes.

guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 381 Location: Italy

Salt will do the job!
It has been used since long long time to preserve food, not only because it keep away the moisture, but also because it's a good antiseptic/antibacterial.
I'm pretty much "rusty" with my chemistry, but I remember some funny experiments with sodium, water, batteries and electrodes Smile

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paulamathers · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:58 pm Post subject:

yeah you're right, it is salt. That's why they used to use mountains of salt to preserve in the olden days. Here in England, near where I grew up in Nottinghamshire, theres a place called Rufford Park, near to Rufford Abbey. Around the park there are loads of old salt houses where the rich people of the Abbey used to store their meat. They would cake the meat in salt to help keep it fresher longer. It probably tasted like crap the longer it had been there, but it worked well.

Also, have you noticed how well sea water heals cuts and grazes? It's because if the salt content of the water, as Guido said, acting as an antibacterial agent to heal the wound.
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