Which molds first; white or multigrain bread

[Hayley196]

Ive done my experiment and the white bread molded first but for my discussion i have to talk about why the white bread molded first and i have no idea???????

[SciB]

Hi Hayley,

I can't tell you why you got that result from your mold experiment, but i can think of some possible explanations.

1. What is the source of your bread? Some bread companies add sodium propionate or other chemicals to prevent molds from eating the bread before you do. Check the ingredients on the bread label and see if maybe the multigrain bread had more mold inhibitor and that's why the white bread grew mold first.

2. Mold needs moisture to grow. Was the white bread kept moister for some reason?

3. How many pieces of each kind of bread did you test? You probably should have done at least 5 of each to get a statistically accurate measurement.

4. Where did you have the bread? Mold spores are in the air, but they won't grow unless they fall onto a suitable source of food like bread. Maybe the white bread was exposed to more spores than the multigrain.

I hope this has given you some ideas as to how to explain your result. If you have more specific questions, please post back to Scibuddies and we will try to help.

Best wishes,

SciB