Re: Does temperature effect decomposition of a Carrot?

Hi Karine

There are two ways things decompose.
The first is they go rotten
The second is their molecules come apart.

A Carrot will decompose for both reasons.
Bugs live in carrots and the carrot growing in the ground fights a continual 
war (like we do!) to keep bugs out and kill those bugs (microbes, germs, 
viruses etc) that do get in.
The microbes that live in carrots like best the temperature of carrots in the 
ground - maybe warm sunshine. But once out of the ground all the bugs in the 
air around us like to eat carrot (it is how THEY live - so don't be too hard 
on them). In eating it they get energy and nutrients and the carrot "goes bad" 
(brown, squishy and smelly - in order to encourage us NOT to eat it!).

These air-borne bacteria (bugs) like best room temperature and the 
temperatures of our bodies and the other warm-blooded animals.

However along with this nearly ALL chemistry gets much faster as we warm 
things up. At first the bugs like this (their life quickens up a bit). But 
just like us it can get TOO HOT. Boiling water will kill most bugs - just like 
us. And heating red hot certainly will.

When we heat things we are really shaking them up. Their molecules bash 
together faster and faster. Then, pretty soon, above boiling water usually, 
this shaking makes solids melt, and liquids boil and often the molecules 
themselves break apart colliding with one another!
That is called "chemical decomposition".

So as we heat your carrot everything speeds up; the rotting and the chemical 
decomposition. When we COOK the carrot its stiff cells break down (by 
collision) into softer cells - the sort we like to eat with knife and fork at 
table. Unfortunately, the vitamins come out in the cooking-water and decompose 
too. So one RAW carrot is worth a whole plateful of cooked food. Carotenes are 
good for you in SO MANY ways - and are found guess where; in carrots!

John