JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

After reading a book about Pasteur, the girls and I decided to do an experiment growing molds. I’ll spare the photos on this post. We put pieces of bread in ziploc bags on September 23. Two kinds of bread were used: Safeway “French” loaf and whole wheat sandwich (although we only had two pieces of the former to use). Slices were treated with either water, lemon juice, sugar water or nothing. Three weeks later after storing the bread under the sink where it is dark and warm, I find that the slices from Safeway white French loaf (around $1) are fuzzy green. The whole wheat sandwich bread ($2 – $3) does not have mold except for the one slice that was treated with drops of water has a yellow spot. It would seem that eating whole wheat bread would be a better choice, due to the fiber, nutritional content and quality, rather than the inexpensive white loaf. Granted, according to my microbiology training and knowledge of sterile procedures, this experiment was far from perfect in technique. However, this mold study is making me wonder what it is that I am eating along with the whole wheat…what kind of chemicals can preserve bread from molding for three weeks?!