Going off of Houda’s awesome post, I looked into browning. Not being very handy around a kitchen myself, I had always though of “browning” as the undesirable decomposition of foods, especially fruits and vegetables. It turns out that the desirable browning as a result of the Maillard reaction, which account for many delicious carbohydrates and meats, and the brown color that cut fruits eventually reach, are categorized as nonenzymatic and enzymatic browning, respectively.
In enzymatic browning, there are obviously enzymes that are involved, which oxidize phenols to melanins and quinones, producing a brown color. I’m sure everyone knows to store their fruits in the refrigerator to slow down browning; or even sprinkle some lemon juice on their apples for extra zest, especially if there’s no refrigeration available. The most interesting aspect is the chemistry behind this part! Low temperatures slow down browning since they decrease the rate of reaction, which explains why they wont turn brown for a few hours, but probably not much longer than that. Acids lower the pH and remove the copper cofactor, preventing the enzymes that are involved in browning from functioning!
It’s so enlightening to find out that a small life hack I learned in elementary school is based on food chemistry and preventing an oxidation reaction.
I had heard about putting fruit into the fridge, but I never knew about using lemon juice’s effects! I really want to try this now, guess I need some apples…thanks for sharing! It’s really cool knowing how pH affects fruit’s “shelf-life”…