The The Effect of Moisture on the Growth of Mold on Organic Bread

Abstract

Mold is a very common fungus that can grow almost anywhere where the conditions will stimulate its growth. Moisture content is known to be one of the most critical components in promoting mold growth such that a higher moisture content will facilitate greater mold growth Block (287). The purpose of this study was to determine if moisture levels influence the growth of mold on samples of organic bread. For analysis, the percent cover of mold on the samples of organic bread with varying moisture levels was collected over a nine day period. Moisture was introduced into the bread samples through the addition of either 5 mL of water or 10 mL of water. The addition of a higher volume of water corresponded to a higher moisture content in the said sample. The main findings of this study based on a p-value of 0.02 was that higher moisture levels will result in increased mold growth. However, this was only supported when comparing two samples. If this experiment were to be repeated in the future, it would be important to make certain changes such as including a larger sample size in order to obtain more significant results.