DEHYDRATION GROUP

REPORT
Ms. Tara Kenyon

FOOD SCIENCE

BY
JAY
MIMI
MILL
SING

Jirat
Nattanicha
Passawas
Kanit

Prasertmak
Siamnikorn
Satitjindawong
Srihakorth

Mahidol University International Demonstration School

Introduction
H2O or we known it as water is the most essential component of life. Unique
characteristics and properties made it special enough to create and sustain life.
Water flows through every corner of the world, from the ground to the air, from a
body to others, and also in most of our food.
Food we eat are mostly compose with high percentage of water, 92% in
spinach, 75% in meats and 30% in french fries so that means theres approximately
65% of water in a plate of steak. The reason that the plate still looks solid even its
compose of more than 60% of liquid, is that water in foods are classified into mainly
3 types. Bulk, trapped and bound. Bulk water can be released easily by physical
actions such as squeezing. Trapped water needs more effort to release because its
trapped inside small spaces in food and form capillary action. Bound water are water
molecules that bond with other molecules of different elements, This type of water is
the hardest to be released.
In order to understand about water in food better. This experiment will
simulate the process of food dehydration by using fruit samples and dehydrator.
Several sorts of fruits will be sliced into small samples and observed its
charactheristics such as weight and width. After observations are finished, the fruit
samples will be dehydrated for a period of time. The samples will be observed again
after the dehydration. This process will show us how food would looks like without
water and how many percentage of water are in different types of fruits.

Materials
1.Dehydrator
2.Avocado
3.Knife
4.Cutting board
5.Wax paper
6.Electronic balance

Procedures
Day 1
1.Peel avocados skin and cut it into equal pieces, at least one piece for each member.
2.Observe sliced avocoda and draw a picture of avocado.
3.Then, cut paper to fit the size of sliced avocado.
4.Mass paper firstly and record the mass of the paper.
5.Then, still putting the paper on electronic balance and press re-zero button. Put the
avocado on the paper to mass it and then record the mass of fruit before dehydration.
6.Remove the paper and press re-zero button and then put the paper and fruit on electronic
balance and then record the mass of fruit with paper before dehydration.
7.Then, dry avocado by dehydrator and leave it for 26 hours.
Day 2
1.Move avocado out of the dehydrator.
2.Observe dehydrated avocoda and draw a picture of avocado.
3.Then, put the paper on electronic balance and press re-zero button. Put the avocado on
the paper to mass it and then record the mass of fruit after dehydration.
4.Remove the paper and press re-zero button and then put the paper and fruit on electronic
balance and then record the mass of fruit with paper after dehydration.
5.Calculate the percentage of moisture content.
6.Find the average moisture content percentage.

Data Table
Name of group member

Mass of avocado
before dehydration

Mass of avocado
after dehydration

Moisture content
(%)

Jay

4.08 g

1.23 g

69.85 %

Mill

3.69 g

1.05 g

71.54 %

Mimi

5.17 g

1.51 g

70.79 %

Sing

4.43 g

1.27 g

71.33 %

Average Moisture Content (%) = 70.87 %

Discussion
1. Why did the weight of the sample decrease? Explain.
Because some of water, sugar, and nutrient are evaporate. Theyre evaporate by
heat and its change form from liquid to gas. Heat break all hydrogen bonds to become gas.
2. Each group member should comment on the changes they observed from the wet to dry
sample.
Sing - It shrinked and spoiled, its color looks bad, and taste are horrible.
Jay - Its smell is good and shape contracts.
Mimi - My avacado changes its colour from green to brownish green. The smell is nice but
the taste is opposite. It is very bitter and hard to chew. Also, there was oil coming out after
the dehydration process.
Mew - The texture changes from soft to hard after it is dehydrated. The size of the avocado
shrinks.
3. Do you think your sample needed more time to dry? Why or why not?
No. No matter how long it takes, its taste remains bitter because the original taste is
not sweet.
4. How did the average moisture content of the other fruit samples compare to your group?
Our samples average moisture content is less than the others because its pulp
mostly has avocado oil more than water.
5. Why did some samples dehydrate more efficiently than others? (For within your group and
also between different groups)
The thickness of the sample and its mass and weight, these may effect on the
effiency of dehydrating fruits.
6. Research advantages and disadvantages to dehydrated food products and explain.
Include APA citations.
Dehydrated food can be high in calories due to the process of water removing. Next,
it can be in high sugar to add preservation or flavor to dehydrated food without giving more
nutrients, instead increases in calories. Also, another way for preserving food is to add
sodium which is not good for consumers health. This may cause heart disease.
(Natalie, S. (2015, November 29). The disadvantages of dehydrated food. Retrieved from
http://www.livestrong.com/article/318585-the-disadvantages-of-dehydrated-food/)
Meanwhile, dehydrated food can be kept for a long period of time or called
preservation. Food Science at Brigham Young University, rice, corn, wheat and grains that
have been properly dehydrated, canned and stored will last 30 years or more. Dehydrated
vegetables, fruits, and pastas have a shelf life of up to 30 years. Another benefit of
dehydrated food is its convenient Whereas, it is good for packing products because it can
be fit into small packages, for example, when you go hiking.
(Gary, R. (2015, January 28). Health Benefits of a Food Dehydrator. Retreived from
http://www.livestrong.com/article/254798-health-benefits-of-a-food-dehydrator/)

Conclusion
For conclusion, this experiment shows us how dehydration work more clearly, how to
cut an avocado, how to weight an avocado and paper and last thing that we learn is were
being more unite. We follow the rule strictly and do pretty decent job in every steps, but the
only thing that went wrong is the taste of the avocado after dehydrated. Taste of avocado
after dehydrated is the worst of all groups in the class. So our mistake is picking the wrong
fruit. Next time we will pick the other fruit that taste better and a bit more easier to chop
down. The result is pretty good avocado turn to dehydrated fruit like we expected,
eventhough it taste bad but we all having fun and learn a lots from this experiment. By the
way, avocado is the only friut that have an oil leak out when dehydrated. Because avocado
already have oil inside of it before dehydrate.

Part
Mimi: Analyzing Results Questions
Jay: Materials, data table, procedures, analyzing results questions num.2, 3, 4
Sing: Conclusion and analyzing results questions num.2, 1
MIll: Introduction and analyzing results questions num.2