Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

In doing the experiment "Does one bad apple spoil the whole bunch," I noted that you could also test pears as they are typically sold unripe. However the starch ripeness chart says for McIntosh apples. How can you say that the apple chart is the same for pears? Should I use only McIntosh apples to limit this variable?

Hi paigesutton

I found this entry in the materials section addressing pear use specifically
"McIntosh or red delicious apples [when possible, choose apples that are in the early stages of ripening, these may be obtained at a grocery store or an orchard; you may also use varieties of crab apples or other local ornamental apples that are in the early stages of ripening. Store bought apples may already be too ripe to conduct a ripening experiment. I that case, you may want to use pears that are usually sold with the expectation that they will ripen after purchase."

I believe that you can infer the information from the McIntosh chart on the pears. While this will be a variable in the results, consistent analysis will limit this impact. This will also be a great writing point for the report.

Hope this helps,

AeroSE