Why does the colour leak out of a cooked beetroot?

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Why does the colour leak out of a cooked beetroot?

Introduction

I predict that as the temperature increases, more betalains pigments will leak out of the beetroot, causing the water to become darker. The rise in temperature will cause the membranes to become more permeable.  Then as the temperature increases, the proteins in the membrane start to wobble. This then causes the hydrogen bonds holding their shape to break. This happens in channel protein and due to this the cell membrane structure cannot control what enters and leaves the membrane, causing the betalains to leak out. I predict that between 20ºC and 60ºC the proteins will start to denature at a faster rate.

Planning

The procedures used in the method, will generate appropriate measurements that I can test, because the measurements are very precise and accurate.  The instructions are well explained and easy to follow ensuring that measurements and temperatures are also precise.  The experiment is valid enough to repeat the experiment to ensure reliability.  

The thermometer is suitable because it will give accurate readings of temperature.  The pipettes are also accurate because it will measure out exactly 2cm3  and 5cm3.  

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The independent variable is the different temperatures set in the water bath, to see the effect of temperature on cell membranes.  The length of the cut beetroot is controlled, they each had the same surface area, and this is to ensure that the average amount of dye that will run out of each beetroot is similar. The temperature of the water after 30 minutes cannot be controlled.  The cylinder size, volume of distilled water, which was 5cm3, the time in the water bath, can all be controlled.  The dependent variable will be calculated by using the colorimeter to measure ...

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