So, unlike most of my posts, I decided adding how I was able to take pictures of the mold shown below. Because the original light emitted from the microscope cannot penetrate through the mold unless it is squished between a slide, I used an illuminator to shine the top and sides of the mold for a clearer view of the actual mold form.
The first picture shown above displays the illuminator lighting from the sides while this is displaying the illuminator brightening the mold through the tip.
 |
| 40X illuminator |
Now for anyone wondering why mold has such a "hairy" appearance, the reason for this is because molds consist of hyphae which are thread-like filaments that form mycelium. Since there are so many hyphae creating mycelum, it ultimately looks as if it's a fuzzy ball. The next few pictures displays hyphae creating mycelium (the small "fluff-like" balls at the top).
 |
| 100X illuminator |
Now I was wondering why mold would form in tea but not in water. Since I left the tea inside my house to cool but also left the windows open, my guess is airborne spores came through the window and settled on the cooled down tea. Since there were likely some nutrients in the tea and there wasn't any competition, the molds began forming into the now large ball of fuzz.
 |
| 100X illuminator |
Hi Kyu!
ReplyDeleteI happened to cross into your blog today when deleting old emails ha and this post particularly caught my eye. Disclaimer: I am no expert on this but from hopping on the bandwagon that is brewing kombucha (fermented tea); a byproduct of yeast (a single celled mold); I’ve learned a thing.
Your earlier question to why you think mold would form in tea but not in water. I believe you answered your question that the tea likely has more “nutrients.”
You could go more in depth if you could identify the tea and if there are any additives in it. (Sugar particularly)
A common example to explain your question is the presence of mold in bread.
Everyone knows that yeast is essential to leaven dough. Alongside water, and flour (enzymes in yeast + flour= simple sugars which then are metabolized)
Why does mold grow so rapidly in comparison to say… counter sugars, or other foods *in open air?
Bread’s concentration of 1. Carbohydrates: sugar 2. Water 3. Protein and Iron
1.Bread is mostly made of carbohydrates needed for (mold, yeast, and bacteria)
2. Water (mold, bacteria)
(lack of water and high competition of mold does not allow for yeast)
3. Protein (mold)
(lack of water, protein, and high competition of mold does not allow bacteria to grow)
Mold grows well on bread as it has all the following unless (dehydrated or has preservatives)
Like you said your tea provided the necessary nutrition most likely some carbohydrate in addition to the water and was exposed to oxygen with ph levels not too acidic (in that case yeast would be present over mold)
Maile
*was in your graduating class
Hey Maile! Glad you were able to stop by my blog and thanks for giving me tips on what to put on future posts! The example was quite helpful and I'll try to be a bit more specific on my next uploads. Now, I guess I should add a bit more context to the post above. The tea I mentioned above is actually called burdock tea. It is a tea widely known to be used in preventing cancer, diabetes, inflammation, and etc. As for what is inside the tea, I did some research and realized some of the nutrients the tea contains include vitamin B-6, vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, and more. Because the tea is a suitable place for molds to grow (being wet and all), doesn't have that much competition with other bacteria, and has a variety of nutrients, that is the most possible explanation to why mold began growing on the tea.
ReplyDeleteHope this helps!