University of Waterloo

Faculty of Science

FUN FACTS ABOUT FOOD

Extra Credit Assignment

Name: Marsha Chan

BIOL 439 - 001
Date of Submission: November 19, 2014

Every week, new research claims that one food is better than another, or that new super food
is able to yield magical health benefits. Combine this with the old wives' tales that are passed
down from generation from generation and it becomes increasingly challenging to tell fact from
fiction. Can you really turn orange by eating too many carrots? Do bananas ripen slower when
stored separately? What is a naked egg? Why won't Jell-O work with pineapples? While these
may or may not be true, this paper aims to demystify a small number of food-related claims by
exploring its underlying biochemistry.
1. If you eat too many carrots, will you turn orange? Yes!
Carrots, as well as pumpkins and papaw, are foods that have high concentrations of betacarotene, a red-orange pigment that may cause a yellowish discolouration of the skin when
ingested in high amounts (Wageesha, Ekanayake, Jansz, & Lambadusuriya, 2011). The net effect
is similar to jaundice but is distinguishable since the colouring does not affect the sclera
(Wageesha, Ekanayake, Jansz, & Lambadusuriya, 2011). This is colouration is called
hypercarotenemia. It is a benign condition that arises from the excessive intake of carotenoidbearing foods including yellow and leafy green vegetables high in vitamin A (Wageesha,
Ekanayake, Jansz, & Lambadusuriya, 2011). While it can develop in people of any age, it more
commonly occurs in infants and young children. When individuals eat too much of these foods,
the beta-carotene enters the bloodstream and the carotenoids are deposited in the fatty tissue
(Wageesha, Ekanayake, Jansz, & Lambadusuriya, 2011). The colouring is most noticeably in
their palms and soles (Wageesha, Ekanayake, Jansz, & Lambadusuriya, 2011). A similar
condition is lycopenemia which results when individuals who eat too many tomatoes take on a

yellowish-orange hue due to an accumulation of lycopene in their tissues (Wageesha, Ekanayake,

Jansz, & Lambadusuriya, 2011).
It is known that the iron-dependent enzyme carotenoid 15, 15'-monooxygenase (CMOI) is
responsible for catalysis of the conversion of dietary pro-vitamin A carotenoids to vitamin A in
the small intestine. A mutation in the gene that codes for this enzyme causes hypercarotenemia
(Wageesha, Ekanayake, Jansz, & Lambadusuriya, 2011). However there are other stages in this
metabolic pathway that may be responsible for the colouration. The metabolism of carotenoids is
as follows: the excess vitamin A is transported into the liver and the hydrocarbon is broken down
into a monohydroxy, which undergoes an additional step to polyhydroxy metabolites by the liver
cytochrome P450 system, which promotes excretion (Wageesha, Ekanayake, Jansz, &
Lambadusuriya, 2011). Scientist measured various amounts of these compounds to understand
where in the process is being overloaded and to observe which step is most responsible for the
condition. Incidentally, any dysregulation in the pathway can result in hypercarotenemia. The
study concluded that there is immense variation between individuals on their carotenoid
metabolism and the control can be due to the genetic makeup of an individual (Wageesha,
Ekanayake, Jansz, & Lambadusuriya, 2011).
2. Do bananas ripen slower if you store them separately? Technically, yes if separated far
enough.
The exposure of bananas to ethylene accelerates its ripening and senescence. Knowledge of
this and a desire to extend shelf life has led to research to learn how to prolong the preclimacteric storage life or 'green-life' by controlling the banana's exposure or reaction to ethylene
(Kanellis, Chang, Kende, & Grierson, 1996). This has led to the use of ethylene absorbents that

remove or minimize exogenous ethylene from the banana storage environment to extend their
shelf life. For example, the use of potassium permanganate-based "scrubbers" and the
combination of charcoal and palladium chloride have been shown to decrease the softening of
the bananas and increase storage life. Also, the additional use of sealed polyethylene bags further
prolonged the pre-climacteric phase or storage phase (Kanellis, Chang, Kende, & Grierson,
1996).
Ethylene is produced by banana fruits. They are formed from the precursor laminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) by ACC oxidase (ACO), otherwise known as the
ethylene-forming enzyme (EFE) (Kanellis, Chang, Kende, & Grierson, 1996). In bananas, the
production of ethylene is minimal during the pre-climacteric phase and increases only when the
fruit ripens (Kanellis, Chang, Kende, & Grierson, 1996). Since bananas produce ethylene and
ethylene promotes ripening, when bananas are placed in close proximity to each other in storage,
it increases the overall exposure of the fruits to ethylene. However, separating each banana from
the stem and still storing them in the same bowl (according to some old wives tales) do not
cause the bananas to ripen at a slower rate than if there were still connected at the stem. They
need to be significantly separated enough that the ethylene produced by each banana does not
affect other bananas.
3. What is a naked egg? How do you shell an egg?
A naked egg is simply an egg with no shell. The shell of a chicken egg is made out of
calcium carbonate (The Department of Chemistry, 2014). When an egg is soaked in vinegar,
which is approximately 4 per cent acetic acid, over a number of days, it will dissolve the egg

shell. The acetic acid reacts with the calcium carbonate of the shell and releases carbon dioxide
that can be seen as small bubbles on the shell in solution. The net reaction is as follows:
CaCO3 (s) + 2 HC2H3O2 (aq) Ca (C2H3O2)2 (aq) + H2O (l) + CO2 (g)
(The Department of Chemistry, 2014)
While only a curiosity on the scale of an egg, this reaction presents a problem for humanmade structures in environments particularly affected by pollution. Calcium carbonate is found
all over the Earth in the form of marble, limestone, chalk, and dolomite (Myers, 2003). There are
numerous artificial structures made of these materials including statues and buildings. Acid rain
water gets its lowered pH from carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere that dissolves in the water
to create carbonic acid, a weak acid. This acid can act on the calcium carbonate of these
structures and slowly dissolve them (Myers, 2003). As we pollute the atmosphere, acid rain
becomes more common, perpetuating this environmental problem.
One useful takeaway from this is if people who live in areas where the local water is hard
water (high mineral content containing calcium and magnesium), it is likely that after repetitive
use of a kettle, a layer of calcium deposit accumulates on the bottom. This encrustation can be
easily cleaned using an acid the same way the egg shell was dissolved (The Department of
Chemistry, 2014).
4. Why should you not add fresh pineapple to Jell-O?
The addition of fresh pineapple to Jell-O or gelatin will prevent it from "gelling" or forming a
semi-soft three dimensional structure. This is because pineapples produce a cysteine protease

called bromelain. Bromelain is a mixture of thiol endopeptidases and other enzymes like
phosphatase, glucosidease, peroxidase cellulase, escharase, and several protein inhibitors
(Sharma et al., 2014; Pavan et al., 2012). It is found in the juice and stems of pineapples (Sharma
et al., 2014). These proteases break down collagen and exhibit fibrinolytic, antiedematous,
antithrombotic, and anti-inflammatory activities (Pavan et al., 2012). Jell-O and other gelatins
maintain their three dimensional structure via the peptide links between chains of collagen
(Scheve, 2008).
The addition of pineapple, which introduces bromelain into the gelatin system, hydrolyzes
the peptides bonds between collagen strands, breaking the links faster than they can form
(Pendarvis & Crawley, 2014). This prevents the gelling of gelatin or Jell-O in the presence of
fresh pineapple. However, bromelain can be inactivated with heat and it denatures at 158oF or
70oC. This implies that using canned pineapples which have been processed with heat can be
used in Jell-O without breaking down the structure of gelatin (Scheve, 2008).
The use of bromelain is commonly used as a tenderizer for steak as it breaks down the
peptide bonds between fibrin and between collagen in the muscle tissue, reducing its firmness
(Scheve, 2008). This effect is just as active on a person's tongue as they eat pineapples but its
hydrolysing effect is short-lived since bromelain is metabolized by the body and the appropriate
peptide bonds are regenerated quickly (Scheve, 2008).
While these are just a small number of food-related legends, there are still more waiting to be
explained. It is true that butter works better than ice on bruises? Can you really tell if an egg has
gone bad from if it floats in a glass of cold water? Can chocolate really give you acne? Pursuing
the curiosity of food myths can prove to be fun, informative and useful. It gives insight into why

things have been done in the past and how to improve new methods of food preparation and
cooking in the future.

References
Kanellis, A., Chang, C., Kende, H., & Grierson, D. (1996). Biology and Biotechnology of the
Plant Hormone Ethylene. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Myers, R. (2003). The Basics of Chemistry. Westport, CT.: Greenwood Press.
Pavan, R., Jain, S., & Kumar, A. (2012). Properties and Therapeutic Application of Bromelain: A
Review. Biotechnology Research International, 2012 (2012), 1-6.
Pendarvis M.P. & Crawley, J.L. (2014). Exploring Biology in the Laboratory, 2nd Ed. Englewood,
CO.: Morton Publishing.
Scheve, T. (2008, January 1). Why do pineapple enzymes tenderize steak and your tongue?
Retrieved November 18, 2014, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edibleinnovations/pineapple-enzyme-tenderize-steak1.htm
Sharma, H.K., Srivastava, R., & Shukla, S. (2014). Isolation, Purification, and Quantitative
analysis of cysteine protease, bromelain from Ananas comosus (pineapple). International
Journal of Pharma and Bio Sciences. 5 (1): 429-437.
The Department of Chemistry. (2014). Science on the Sheets: Eggsperiments. Retrieved
November 17, 2014, from University of York, UK:
http://www.york.ac.uk/res/sots/activities/eggs.htm
Wageesha, N. D., Ekanayake, S., Jansz, E. R., & Lambadusuriya, S. (2011). Studies on
hypercarotenemia due to excessive ingestion of carrot, pumpkin and papaw. International
Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, 62 (1), 20-25.