Nicole Aucoin

Lab report #7

11/17/16

1. The purpose of this experiment is to determine the affect of color and pH of

the cooking liquid when broccoli, cauliflower, red cabbage, and carrots are

boiled in water for 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 15 minutes covered, 5 minutes

with baking soda added, 15 minutes with baking soda added, 5 minutes with

vinegar added, and 15 minutes with vinegar added.

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the affect of color and texture

of broccoli, cauliflower, red cabbage, and carrots when boiled in water for 5

minutes, 15 minutes, 15 minutes covered, 5 minutes with baking soda added,

15 minutes with baking soda added, 5 minutes with vinegar added, and 15

minutes with vinegar added.

Table 1: Color of broccoli, red cabbage, cauliflower, and carrots after being
boiled in water that was boiled for 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 15 minutes covered,
5 minutes with baking soda, 15 minutes with baking soda, 5 minutes with
vinegar, and 15 minutes with vinegar.
Treatment Broccoli Red Cabbage Cauliflower Carrots

Water, 5 min Dark green top, Purple/blue Off Orange

light green stem white/cream
Water, 15 min Dark green top, Dark purple Off Orange
light green stem with white spots white/cream
Water, 15 min White stem, dull White with a Off Orange
covered green top purple tint, white/cream
almost clear
Soda, 5 min Bright green top, Light blue with a White with a Orange
light green light purple tint yellow tint
bottom
Soda, 15 min Bright green all Turquoise/aqua White with a Orange
around blue with white yellow tint
and purple spots
Vinegar, 5 min Brown, dark on Very pink White Orange with
top, light bottom white on the
outside
Vinegar, 15 Brown, dark top, Light pink White Orange with
min light bottom white on the
outside
Table 2: pH values of cooking liquid after broccoli, red cabbage, cauliflower,
and carrots had been boiled for 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 15 minutes covered, 5
minutes with baking soda, 15 minutes with baking soda, 5 minutes with
vinegar, and 15 minutes with vinegar.
Treatment Broccoli Red cabbage Cauliflower Carrots

Water, 5 min 7.55 7.10 7.64 7.28

Water, 15 min 7.29 7.44 7.57 7.44

Water, 15 min 7.00 7.33 7.75 7.70

covered
Soda, 5 min 8.81 8.60 9.31 8.62

Soda, 15 min 9.10 8.42 9.18 8.47

Vinegar, 5 min 4.12 3.80 3.82 3.87

Vinegar, 15 4.19 3.83 4.05 4.04

min
Chart 1: Comparison of pH levels of cooking liquid when broccoli, carrots,
cauliflower, and red cabbage are boiled in water for 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 15
minutes covered, 5 minutes with baking soda, 15 minutes with baking soda, 5
minutes with vinegar, and 15 minutes with vinegar.
10

6
pH

5 Broccoli
4 Carrots

3 Cauliflower
Red Cabbage
2

0
Water 5 Water 15 Water 15 Soda 5 Soda 15 Vinegar 5 Vinegar
min min min min min min 15 min
covered
Treatment
Chart 2: Comparison of texture of broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, and red
cabbage when boiled in water for 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 15 minutes covered,
5 minutes with baking soda, 15 minutes with baking soda, 5 minutes with
vinegar, and 15 minutes with vinegar.

6
Texture 7 point scale

4
Broccoli
3
Carrots
2 Cauliflower
Red Cabbage
1

0
Water 5 Water 15 Water 15 Soda 5 Soda 15 Vinegar 5 Vinegar
min min min min min min 15 min
covered
Treatment
Discussion:

Raw broccoli is green in color due to the pigment, chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is

divided into two types: chlorophyll A and chlorophyll B. Chlorophyll A is more

abundant and contains a methyl group attached to the carbon chain and because of

this it has more blue/green. Chlorophyll B contains an aldehyde group rather than a

methyl group, which causes a yellow/green color. In broccoli, chlorophyll A is

dominant in the darker green florets and chlorophyll B is dominant in the

yellow/green stems. This color combination was seen in all variations excluding the

vinegar treatment. Chlorophyllase is an enzyme responsible for splitting off the

phytyl group to now form a chlorophyllide, which is water-soluble rather than fat-

soluble. A phytyl group is an alcoholic component of chlorophyll that is responsible

for its hydrophobic nature. The actions of chlorophyllase are responsible for the dull

green cooking liquid. Vegetables that contain chlorophyll have a gradual color

change when heated. First, bright green is seen as air is expelled then slowly after

the bright green becomes a dull olive. This color change is a result of a magnesium

ion being replaced with hydrogen to form pheophytin. 1 The breakdown of

chlorophyll to pheophytin normally begins between 5 and 7 minutes after heating,

therefore, broccoli that was boiled for 15 minutes was a lot duller than broccoli that

was boiled for 5 minutes. The pH of broccolis cooking liquid ranged from 7.55 and

7.29 in water, 8.81 and 9.10 in soda and 4.12 and 4.19 in vinegar as an acid. Vinegar

also caused the broccoli to become very firm while the baking soda caused the

1 McWilliams M. Foods: Experimental Perspectives. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 2001.
Chapter 10, pages 211-220
broccoli to be somewhat mushy. The texture change is caused by the breakdown of

hemicellulose in the alkaline medium.

Carrots get their intense orange color from the pigments constituting

carotenoids. Carotenoids are a trans configuration that gives off the color, but when

cooked the trans configuration becomes a cis configuration that makes the color

slightly lighter. This was seen throughout the variations of the experiment. The

textures among all the variations had little differences.2 The carrots that were

treated in boiling water with vinegar were the most firm, earning a 2 on a 7-point

hedonic scale. All other variations earned a 4 or 5. The softest variation was the

carrots that were treated in boiling water, covered, earning a 5 on the scale. There

was very little to no color change of the cooking liquid when the carrots were

undergoing the seven different treatments. All variations with the exception of

vinegar left the cooking liquid clear with a very dull yellow tint. The vinegar

treatment’s cooking liquid was completely clear. The pH values, however, were in

the neutral range when treated with water at 7.28, 7.44 and 7.70. The pH rose to

8.62 and 8.47 when baking soda was added because it is a base. The pH became

much more acidic at 3.87 and 4.04 when vinegar was added because it is an acid.

The least amount of changes among the variations was seen in cauliflower.

Flavonoids are another pigment that creates different colors in vegetables. One of

the three types of flavonoids is called anthoxanthins, which are responsible for the

white color in raw cauliflower. Often times, anthoxanthins remain white or give off

2 McWilliams M. Foods: Experimental Perspectives. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 2001.
Chapter 10, pages 211-220
a yellow tint, which was seen when cauliflower was treated with baking soda. This

typically happens when the pH of cooking liquid is above 7. The pH of cooking

liquid with baking soda being boiled for 5 minutes was 9.31 and 15 minutes was

9.18. When vinegar was added to the treatment, the cooking liquid was completely

clear with a pH of 3.82 after 5 minutes and 4.05 after 15 minutes. This variation saw

the cauliflower the most white out of all variations. Adding the acid caused the

cauliflower to become much more firm than adding a base. The vinegar treatment

had the cauliflower at a 2 on the 7-point hedonic scale regarding texture. Adding a

base, baking soda, resulted in cauliflower being a lot softer and at a 5 on the scale.

The treatment with water caused the cauliflower to be neutral when it came to

texture having a 4 on the scale.

Flavonoids are also responsible for the pigment of red cabbage, when raw it

is bright purple. Out of the three types, anthocyanins3 are responsible for the

pigments that range in color from red to purple to blue, which were all seen

throughout the variations of boiling red cabbage. The original purple color became

a much darker color when treated with water; a blue hint was also added to the

cabbage. When boiled for 15 minutes covered, the cabbage was nearly transparent

but still had a purple tint. The cooking water for all variations also matched the

color of the treated cabbage. The cooking liquid for water was a neutral pH, and the

texture of the cabbage itself was in the middle of the scale, not firm and not soft.

The different variations did not affect the texture of the cabbage. When treated with

3 McWilliams M. Foods: Experimental Perspectives. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 2001.
Chapter 10, pages 211-220
the baking soda base, the pH of cooking liquid was 8.60 and 8.42. The color of both

the vegetable and cooking liquid changed dramatically to bright turquoise with very

little purple. When treated for 15 minutes the color became slightly darker. Even

more dramatically, when treated with vinegar, the cabbage became bright pink as

well as the cooking liquid. Like the first three vegetables, the vinegar is an acid and

lowered the pH to 3.80 and 3.83.

Some results of this experiment were expected others were not. The red

cabbage color changes were all very different, colors cabbage is not usually seen as.

It was unknown that the vinegar addition would cause the red cabbage to turn

bright pink. It was also unknown that the addition of vinegar would cause broccoli

to turn brown. It is known that broccoli is a dark and light green color when boiled

in water, that is something that is seen in the kitchen often, unlike red cabbage. The

results that were not surprising were the pH values. Vinegar is an acid so it is

expected to lower the pH and baking soda is a base so it is expected to raise the pH.

Textures were also expected with the exception of the broccoli treated with vinegar.

After becoming more familiar with the scientific principles, the reactions that were

seen make much more sense.

Conclusion:

This experiment demonstrated the scientific principles of boiling vegetables

with different treatments. Broccoli, red cabbage, cauliflower, and carrots all

underwent boiling under 7 different variations. By observing the results, it was

clear to see how such small variations can either completely change the way the
vegetable is cooked or how it cannot change at all. The pigments of chlorophyll,

carotenoids, and flavonoids are responsible for the color changes in the vegetables

and cooking liquid. These pigments are changed by the presence of heat, acids, or

bases. Acids and bases also affect the pH and texture of cooking liquid and

vegetables themselves.
 Works Cited

McWilliams M. Foods: Experimental Perspectives. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall;
2001.
Chapter 10, pages 211-220