Published on Sep 05, 2023
The objective: The objective of this experiment was to determine whether salt water or lemon juice had any effect on the rate of dehydration of different types of apples. The hypothesis was that lemon juice would increase the rate of dehydration.
Three different types of apples were used; Granny Smith, Gala, and Golden Delicious. 27 apple slices were weighed before and after being dipped in three solutions: distilled water, salt water, and lemon juice.
Specimens were placed on appropriate, color-coded screens, within a cardboard chamber, near a window. Daily measurements were taken until weight loss became constant; thus, dehydration was reached
No significant difference was found in the rate of dehydration between the 3 types of apples(A,B,C). The major finding was that regardless of type, all apples experienced a water loss ranging from 83%-87%.
Apples dipped in a salt water solution dehydrated marginally slower than apples dipped in distilled water. The difference of the daily percentage of water loss between apples dipped in salt water(AY,BY,CY) and those dipped in distilled water(AX,BX,CX) ranged from 2%-7%.
Also, salt water had the most antioxidant effect on the apples. Most water loss occurred between the first 3 days of the experiment.
The data from this experiment did not support the hypothesis, which stated that the addition of lemon juice would increase the rate of apple dehydration. Salt water had a slower rate of dehydration during the 1st 3 days of the experiment.
This project was to find out whether the application of lemon juice or salt water had any effect on the rate of dehydration of different types of apples.
