Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am currently preparing for an experiment on the enzymatic browning of apples. What I intend to do is to determine the effect of natural preservatives (i.e lemon) on the browning of apples. However, a problem that I am facing is that I do not know how to quantify my results. Any help?

Hi Nadia,

If you want to be able to quantify your results, you could use an image analysis program such as ImageJ. This is a program from the NIH, and seems like it is a free download:

https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/

Here are some instructions for specifically what you are trying to do:

https://www.unige.ch/medecine/bioimagin ... cation.pdf

What you could do is calculate the intensity of a control apple as a baseline from your pictures. You can also calculate the intensity of your test apples, where this intensity is normalized to your controls to make a bar graph. Let us know if you have further questions about how to do this.

-Pharma