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Never put tomatoes in the refrigerator. Is that a fact, or just an 'old wives tale'?
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This Week's Experiment - #292 Good Tomatoes
Hello from South Florida. It has been another great week of shows in Ft.
Lauderdale. I also did workshops today to help students and parents prepare
for that most dreaded of school activities, the SCIENCE FAIR! One thing that
we talked about was doing last minute projects. This week's experiment is
one that I used for an example of a quick, simple science project.
As you have noticed in the past, I like projects that use food. Part of this
is because I like eating, but I also like food projects because they are a
great way to connect science with "the real world."
Have you ever heard someone talk about an "old wives tale"? That phrase is
usually used for things that are based on "because that is the way my mother
did it" instead of actual facts. That does not mean that they are not valid.
It just means that people often don't know the why behind them. This week
we will look at some of the science behind tomatoes. You will need:
several tomatoes
a refrigerator
Never put tomatoes in the refrigerator. Is that a fact, or just an "old
wives tale"? To find out, you need several tomatoes. Select tomatoes that
are the same size and the same level of ripeness. You want them to be as
similar as possible. Put half of them on the kitchen table and put the other
half in the refrigerator. Be sure to label both groups and let your family
know. Otherwise someone may turn your science experiment into a sandwich.
After an hour, remove one of the tomatoes from the refrigerator. Slice it,
paying careful attention to the texture and smell. Slice one of the tomatoes
from the table and see how it compares. Taste both. Do you notice a
difference? Let them sit overnight and test them again. What do you notice?
The tomatoes in the refrigerator very quickly lost their smell and most of
their flavor. Over time, the texture of the tomatoe changes. It becomes
mealy, losing its firmness. Refrigeration will preserve the tomato for a
long time, but they wind up tasting more like plastic than tomato. Now you
know what happened to all of those restaurant tomatoes and why fresh ones
from a fruit stand taste so wonderful.
From Robert Krampf's Science Education Company
PO Box 60982
Jacksonville, FL 32236-0982
904-388-6381
krampf@aol.com
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