Preventing the Browning of Sliced Fruit

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirement for the
Science Subject

Presented by:

Group 3 - Simplicity

Marise Reyline P. Alojado

Anthony Joshua M. Barnachea
Juan Emmanuel S. Ferrer
Maria Danica M. Lopez
Erin Annika P. Manahan
Lance Terence C. Relova
Angeli Sherise M. Reyes

Presented to:

Ms. Dolores M. Mante

September 24, 2018

Abstract (2nd page)

Apples are great snacks to have on hand, but some kids don’t like to bite from the

apple for some reason. We think they really find it more convenient when the apples

are cut in slices and they can just use it as finger food. But apple slices turn brown fast

after being cut (or bruised).

In addition, brown fruit is just not appealing. Even though it might not taste any

different, we eat with our eyes. Children, especially eat with their eyes. If they are on

the edge about eating a piece of fruit, if it is brown then there is no way they will want

to eat it. The great thing is there are a lot of different solutions to prevent sliced fruit

from turning brown, and we chose apples as our sliced fruit because they are commonly

used and definitely go brown fast. We wanted to seek the potential using honey to keep

apples looking fresh for much, much longer.

There are some quick tips for us to follow on how to prevent fruit from browning.

First, you need to put 2 tablespoons of honey in a container with a cup of water, then

put the sliced apple, pears or any other fruit that you want to prevent turning brown. All

you need to do is just wait for 5 minutes, then you can see if the process that you’ve

followed will work.

Moreover, there are other four different solutions to test the effectiveness of how a

produce can be prevented from turning brown. The first option is Lemon Juice, to make

a lemon juice solution you will mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per 1 cup of water. You
can also use other citrus juices like pineapple, or orange for a different flavor. Second is

Soda Water, you can find this in stores and it is called Club Soda, or Soda Water. The

third option is to soak the cut fruit in a saltwater solution 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt per

cup of water for 10 minutes; then drain and store until ready to use. The mild salt flavor

can be rinsed off with tap water before serving . And lastly, Plain Cold Water. The

criteria that was used to determine which method was the best were the appearance,

flavor, and texture.

Many people use a lemon extract or citrus instead, but dunking fruits and veggies in

honey water for 30 seconds prevents them from browning for a lot longer—as long as 8

hours. Dunk them for a couple minutes and they could last a whole day, perfect if you

need to slice now and serve later.

Chapter I Background of the Study

Introduction

In our consumer research, we have found that the majority of apple eaters feel that

apple browning is an issue in their apple-eating experience. And, it is clear that

browning is a significant deterrent for freshcut apple products, which currently make up

just ~2% of apple sales despite rising consumer demand for healthy, convenient snacks.

Currently, most commercial freshcut apple products require anti-browning

treatments, such as calcium ascorbate, in order to delay or reduce the enzymatic

browning reaction. Unfortunately, these treatments can add up to 40% in processing

costs and frequently impart an off-taste to the fruit.

Additionally, sulfites are commonly used to reduce browning in dried apple products.

Such sulfite treatments are ideally avoided as, according to FDA estimates, one in 100

people are sensitive to sulfite treatments and can have allergic reactions. And for those

with asthma, the likelihood of sulfite sensitivity may be as high as 10%.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the majority of consumers have told us they

would be more likely to purchase sliced apples that did not require anti-browning

treatments!
 Preventing is about keeping something from happening or arising. It is also keeping

a certain phenomena or scenario to not occur. In our everyday, preventing is not a rare

thing anymore because we almost do it most of the time. For example, preventing the

people we don’t want to meet or preventing to eat food we are not allowed to ingest

and many more. For this lesson, what we are preventing is how to avoid sliced produce

from turning brown, but have you ever wondered why this produce turns brown, it is

because of when a produce is cut or bruised, oxygen is introduced into the injured plant

tissue. When oxygen is present in cells, polyphenol oxidase enzymes in the chloroplasts

rapidly oxidize phenolic compounds naturally present in the produce tissues to o-

quinones, colorless precursors to brown-colored secondary products.

This research is all about the observation of why do sliced produced turns brown. In

this study you will know what factors affect the produce that makes it outer expose

layer brown. We will also show some simple remedies to slow down the ripening of the

fruits. In this study you will know the step by step on how to prevent fruit sliced from

browning.
Statement of the Problem

The main objective of this study is to observe the slowing down of browning of a

sliced produce.

1. What are the components of the honey to prevent the browning of a sliced fruit?

2. What makes honey different from lemon?

3. What is the time period of a fruit, if you soaked it in honey?

4. Can honey strengthen the color of the product?

5. Can salt be the substitute to prevent the browning of a sliced fruit?

General Problem

1. Can honey and lemon juice truly slow down the ripening of sliced or chopped

produce?

2. Would the honey and lemon juice affect the taste of the sliced fruit?

Hypothesis

If we put water and honey on the apple, it may stay fresh. Based on our research

honey can prevent the browning of sliced fruit. Based on our experiment we tested the

thing that can attest how it take long if we put honey, lemon, soda water, and salt, or

just plain cold water. We also look for their difference of which one will work. We tried

these five things in the different container and wait for one hour to prove which one will

attain its freshness.

Objectives

This investigatory project aims to prevent the browning of sliced produce through

home remedies. In order to achieve this, we need to make some simple ways to keep

apples fresh and crisp and to avoid spoilage. Hence, it would still able to be eaten with

its natural color.

Significance of the study

The importance of this study is to help other people on how to solve simple daily

problems just like preventing sliced produced on browning. The results of this study are

to give convenience and easier lifestyle. Apples are a favorite school lunch addition for

many children and moms love their year-round availability and budget friendly prices.

But no matter how crisp and juicy an apple may be, no one will want to eat it once it

turned brown. In other words, it’s like edible rust on your food!

We conducted the study to save the apples from turning brown so that they can be

perfect for keeping sliced apples ready for an easy snack,as well as keeping them as

crisp and white as the moment you cut them.

Humans. Based on our research these people can take advantage on the results of

this research because they could have another chance for them to eat fruits that has

already turned brown through the use of honey which we use, and this method is

already proven, we, the people of the country are also the one who can benefit from

this research.
Chapter II Research Methodology

Materials / Equipment

· Honey · A cup of water

· 1 piece of lemon or lemon juice · spoon

· (3) whole Apples · soda water

· (5) Bowls or Tupper wares · ½ teaspoon of salt

PROCEDURE / METHODOLOGY

1. Ready all the materials needed for the experiment, the produce (apple), Tupper

wares or bowl, spoon, water, soda water, salt, lemon juice and honey.

2. Chop or sliced the apple into smaller pieces using a knife.

3. Mark or name the five bowls according to their water mixture.

4. Fill the 3 bowls or Tupper wares with tap water.

5. Fill the fourth bowl with soda water.

6. Fill the fifth bowl with just plain cold water.

7. In the first bowl of water, put salt and then stir for 30 seconds to let the salt

dissolve.

8. For the second bowl, put pure lemon juice.

9. For the third bowl, put 2 tablespoons of honey and stir.

10. Then, put some slices of apple in each bowl and soak for at least 30 seconds or just

1 minute.

11. Wait for one hour and see the difference of some sliced apples from each bowl.
Chapter III Results and Discussion

The apple slices soaked in honey consistently performed the best, in terms of

inhibiting the browning of cut apples at all selected intervals, while the slices soaked in

other water solution were not as good in preventing browning.

After we wait for about an hour, we looked at those different containers we proved

that when an apple is put in salt water, its outer surfaces will easily turn brown. The

plain cold - and lemon-water apples, meanwhile, had reached an undesirable level of

browning, and both were waterlogged and unpleasant to eat. The lemon water also

subtly altered the apple flavor with a distinct citrusy quality. But when apple slices is put

into water with honey, it does not easily turns brown but instead stays the same for

about an hour. So we proved that honey is more effective to prevent the turning of

brown of sliced fruit.

If you're curious about the science behind it, there's a peptide compound in honey

that stops the activation of polyphenol oxidase when it's exposed to air, or the enzyme

responsible for the oxidation process in fleshy fruits and veggies like apples, pears, and

potatoes. Give this one a try yourself, it works very well.

Chapter IV Conclusion

As a result of the experiment, the following conclusions were drawn:

We have proven our hypothesis such that the properties of honey plays an important

role in inhibiting enzymatic browning of cut apples, thus will maintain their fresh-cut

apple color longer. In the case of the apple slices dipped in honey, we therefore

conclude that they maintain the fresh-cut apple color better than apple slices dipped in

lemon juice, saltwater solution, soda water, or soaking them in just plain cold water.

This is due to the fact that, there's a peptide compound in honey that stops the

activation of polyphenol oxidase when it's exposed to air, since they are anti-browning

age.
Chapter V Recommendation

To help prevent the browning of the unripe fruits, the following

recommendations are proposed:

To address the problems of browning of fruit and the freshness, we the

researchers encourage you to do the exact experiment that we did. You just

need to follow our procedure and used the materials that we used like honey,

lemon extract, salt, soda water or just plain cold water. Just dilute 2 tablespoons

of honey in one cup of water and give your fruits or vegetables a quick dip. It's as

simple as that. If you're not a fan of honey (or just don't have any at home), you

can still use the lemon juice method to prevent immediate browning, or just a

very weak salt water solution instead.

In any case, some precautions must be taken for the use of honey to

avoid some problems in persons who suffer from allergy by bee-related

allergens.
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