It's sticky strings- probiotics

If you haven't seen my post on nattos, you should definitely check that out as well!

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While I was investigating nattos under the microscope, I was able to see the hidden organisms that were around the strings of the nattos: probiotics.

Yes you have read correctly. The pictures you see at the bottom show the countless numbers of probiotics colonized on the fermented food.

If you don't know the benefits of probiotics, some include strengthening your immune system, improving your digestive functions, and stopping inflammatory bowel conditions.

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Therefore, instead of judging food only by sight or taste, also consider what's inside it as well!!

boiled kelp

Before scrolling down for the pictures, does something seem different about this first picture as compared to normal plant cells?

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The correct answer to that is the color! What caught my eye was how the chloroplasts changed from a green to a dull and brownish color.

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As seen on the top picture, the normal kelp has cells with a green color mainly because the chloroplasts are still active. When chloroplasts are boiled however, enzymes inside them are denatured, thus causing them to lose their shape and function.

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 Just remember that when you boil vegetables or plants, it will be less likely for them to be able to conduct photosynthesis well because they won't be able to obtain light energies as efficiently as before.

dried up kelp

I'm sure some of us have seen aquatic plants such as elodeas or (maybe) algae under the microscope. But how about dried kelp?

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Because I had once looked at elodea under the microscope before, I expected to still see numerous amounts of chloroplasts clustered inside the cell wall (even if they were dried up). I was absolutely wrong.

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Upon closer inspection however, I realized that the black spots were likely the nuclei that still remained which I thought was quite fascinating. However, what I also noticed was how because there wasn't any water, areas around the cells were completely dried up but traces of the cells were still existing.

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blood from dad

You've probably learned about blood in biology class but have you ever seen it magnified for the naked eye to see the individual cells?

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As most people know, red blood cells are known for their important role of transporting nutrients, wastes, and gases across the entire body. In this picture, healthy red blood cells are seen because of their circular body and slightly indented center.

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Though not quite visible in the pictures, red blood cells have the protein hemoglobin in the center which is known for transporting oxygen into the body and carbon dioxide to the lungs where it is exhaled.

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Note that the red blood cells tend to live for up to 120 days before they die and are transported to either the spleen or liver to be broken down.

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As I investigated further, I realized how there were a few leukocytes also swimming around with the erythrocytes. It fascinated me because it is much rarer to come across white blood cells since it only makes up about 1% of the blood.

blood from dad

Natto, wonderful probiotics

Before I starting the post . . . you're probably wondering what "Natto" is . . .

Well... Get ready for another talk about fermented food!!

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To give a small background on what natto is, they are soybeans fermented which allows easier digestion and a larger amount of proteins. Nattos are famous for being fermented with bacteria and probiotics such as Bacillus subtilis (a bacteria used for fermenting and producing enzymes).

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Nattos are generally very stringy and so when I decided to look at it through the illuminator, only webs of natto strings were visible!

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During its fermentation, nattos actually create a beneficial enzyme named nattokinase which is known to prevent blood clots (it is still being further researched ). Nattos also have Vitamins K and E which helps build strong bones, prevent heart diseases, and protects against multiple toxins.

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One thing I never got to understood . . . These last two pictures show different pictures of either the beans or the probiotics but I am not certain about what it really is... If anyone knows what this is, please comment about it!! I feel like it's the protein that came out of the soybean.



flower amaryllis' pistil and stamen

 

When I saw the flower for the first time, I was only able to notice its brightly colored pistil and petals. It interested me how the flower focused the color red primarily on top area for insects to be attracted to its large petals to help pollinate the flower. 

Now I think we all assume that pollen tends to be in a circular shape. However, this flower proves that assumption wrong. When I took a look at the anther (where the pollen is located), what I saw were pollen in an oval shape!!! The black objects in the picture above and the white ones below are the pollen in the flower!

I also knew there was a large amount of pollen for every flower but I was fascinated by how similar this looked like grain! The illuminator shining on the pollen caused the color to be white and look quite similar to rice!!

enteric coated capsule

When I was conducting an experiment on enteric coated capsules, I posted the pictures of what I observed onto the site. I think the first thing people should know about the capsule is that the name "enteric" is really the Greek word for "intestine". Furthermore, the capsules are made with the purpose of moving the inside contents past the stomach and into the intestinal area.

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I conducted the experiment on how long probiotic capsules could last in an acidic environment because I realized earlier when placed in those environments, probiotics cannot survive for a long time (in other words, stomach acid would be a death wish to all the probiotics consumed if not for the capsules that were protecting them).

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The general ingredients used to create a enteric coated capsule include fatty acids, waxes, and etc. These are generally acid resistant and is ideally how the capsules are able to resist the stomach acid and reach the intestinal area.

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When I observed these small "bubbles" when melting the capsule (for the experiment), I immediately thought of fatty acids because of the similarity it had with fats when floating in water.  

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