In our project, we observed changes in pieces avocados if we left them overnight. We dabbed orange, grapefruit, lemon, and lime juice on four separate avocado. We did not put juice on one avocado so it could be our control. After leaving the avocados overnight, we compared the four avocados to our control avocado. We saw that the avocados coated in lemon and grapefruit juice were less oxidized than the avocados coated in lime and orange juice. This was not surprising, because lemon juice has the highest concentration of citric acid (5%-6%). Therefore, our hypothesis was partially correct.
Before beginning the project, we had considered using quarters of the avocado because it would have been easier to apply citrus juice to. We decided to only use halves because the experiment may have been less precise (in regards to the even distribution of citrus juice). We also intended to use a juicer to extract juice from out citrus fruit, but because we had no juicer available to us we had to use our hands. This did not prove to be a problem, because we did not need a lot of juice to coat the surface of the avocado.
One of our sources of error may have been the plastic wrap we put over the avocados. Another method of preventing avocados from oxidizing is wrapping them in plastic wrap. In order for it to work, the plastic wrap must cling to the avocado. On some of our plates, the plastic wrap was clinging to the avocado, which may have affected the oxidizing process in some fruits.
A second source of error may have been the time it took for us to apply the citrus juice to the avocado. Because we recorded information after cutting open the avocados, the oxidizing process had started by the time we applied the citrus juice. Although the oxidizing process had not progressed too far, this still may have caused our final recordings to be slightly inaccurate.
Our results could have been more accurate if we did more trials with more avocados. However, we did not have the time or materials to do so. Therefore, our outcomes could have been different if we did more trials. Our results could also have been more accurate if we measured the amount of citrus fruit juice that we placed on the avocados. We just dabbed a random amount of juice onto the avocados which could have affected our results. In addition, if we cut the avocado more smoothly, there would not have been rips and damage in the flesh of the avocado. The rips and damage could have contributed to the oxidation of the avocado.
Before beginning the project, we had considered using quarters of the avocado because it would have been easier to apply citrus juice to. We decided to only use halves because the experiment may have been less precise (in regards to the even distribution of citrus juice). We also intended to use a juicer to extract juice from out citrus fruit, but because we had no juicer available to us we had to use our hands. This did not prove to be a problem, because we did not need a lot of juice to coat the surface of the avocado.
One of our sources of error may have been the plastic wrap we put over the avocados. Another method of preventing avocados from oxidizing is wrapping them in plastic wrap. In order for it to work, the plastic wrap must cling to the avocado. On some of our plates, the plastic wrap was clinging to the avocado, which may have affected the oxidizing process in some fruits.
A second source of error may have been the time it took for us to apply the citrus juice to the avocado. Because we recorded information after cutting open the avocados, the oxidizing process had started by the time we applied the citrus juice. Although the oxidizing process had not progressed too far, this still may have caused our final recordings to be slightly inaccurate.
Our results could have been more accurate if we did more trials with more avocados. However, we did not have the time or materials to do so. Therefore, our outcomes could have been different if we did more trials. Our results could also have been more accurate if we measured the amount of citrus fruit juice that we placed on the avocados. We just dabbed a random amount of juice onto the avocados which could have affected our results. In addition, if we cut the avocado more smoothly, there would not have been rips and damage in the flesh of the avocado. The rips and damage could have contributed to the oxidation of the avocado.