Title and Abstract

 The title of our research is:

Investigation on the Effects of Kitchen Chemicals on the Oxidation of Apples

Abstract

When an apple is cut or bruised, oxygen comes into contact with polyphenol oxidase compound in the apple which causes the apple to brown. When an apple is fully oxidized, the apple will look unsightly, causing it to be discarded by many. This leads to food wastage. Thus, we experimented on the effects of kitchen chemicals on the oxidation of apples to prevent oxidation from happening.. To reduce the apple's browning over a period of time, we used kitchen condiments and diluted the kitchen condiments in water. The kitchen condiments used were eight one-centimetre small apple cubes which were then submerged in a diluted solution each. We then measured the red value on a Red, Green, Blue(RGB) scale of each cube after a set period. The lesser the red value, the more effective the kitchen condiment is in preventing oxidation. The most effective kitchen condiment is distilled water with an average red value of 133 . The least effective was brown sugar which had an average  red value of 186. Distilled water is very affordable, so more people would be willing to use it to prevent their apples or other food sources from browning. According to The Straits Times, close to 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted each year. From this experiment, people could use this method, which is submerging apple slices into distilled water, in order to prevent the apple slice from turning brown. If we prevent apple slices from turning brown, we could prevent food wastage. This is because people tend to dispose of apples that turn brown. When oxidation is prevented, they will consume the apple reducing food wastage. When oxidation is prevented, people will be able to live healthier. Currently, companies use chemicals to preserve apples. One such example is diphenylamine, which may affect your bladder and overexposure may damage your liver. Using this method, people can preserve apples while at the same time remain healthy.