MadSci Network: Microbiology
Query:

Re: what are the steps to molded bread?

Date: Mon Nov 1 14:11:34 1999
Posted By: Elia Richard Shehady, Grad student, Food Science/Microbiology, Kraft Foods, Inc.
Area of science: Microbiology
ID: 940886357.Mi
Message:

Moldy bread is caused, obviously enough, by small microorganisms (MO) called molds. These MO's usually land on bread fibers from airborne habitats. They anchor themselves and feed off of the starch and sugars present in the bread. The discoloration you see is actually a by-product of the mold's metabolism of the carbohydrates in the bread. These by-products are actually very usefull because they are what we know as antibiotics (in their natural state). As the mold eats, metabolizes, and thrives- it grows and gets larger. It reproduces via spores which are released to other parts of the bread by various mechnanisms including wind and physical contact. These spores attaches themselves and repeat the lifecycle just mentioned. The hairy fibers you sometimes see growing off of the colorful molds are actually their spore fibers reaching out to deposit more spores to continue propogating the species. Each colored mold represents a different species so on a single piece of bread, you may have a veritable mold zoo of all different species.


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