Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Which fruit will mold fastest out of oranges limes lemons and grapefruits?

Welcome to the forums

Mold growth often depends on humidity, temperature, lighting, and air currents. Due to the microscopic nature of the mold spores, you won't be able to track the mold growth until a whole colony has grown on the fruit. However, as the fruits have different skin thicknesses, it is possible that the fruit with the thinner peel will grow mold faster because of the moisture of the fruit on the inside. You might want to try doing an experiment to test this out.

Here is some more information on mold reproduction that may help you:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/enviro ... d-info.htm

Hi there,

You have a very interesting question, and have already gotten some great advice on the topic.

I just wanted to point out that all of the fruits you listed are citrus fruits. While it would be interesting to compare mold growth among them, you may have better luck finding detectable differences among fruits that are not so similar. For example, a comparison of softer fruits like peaches and pears, to harder fruits like apples, to citrus fruits (with thick skins and juicy centers), to bananas (thick skin, soft center) might give give you more differences to compare.

Good luck!
Heather