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Rotting Fruit on Scale: Will it gain or lose weight?

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A honeydew melon fruit sits on a scale. Time passes. Mold begins to grow. Will the rotting fruit lose weight or gain weight as it starts to decompose?

This Temponaut Timelapse observes the rotting fruit for 290 days—nine and a half months—while it shrivels and molds on the scale. It takes over a month, but it’s weight, spoiler alert, decreases as the melon loses moisture and shrinks. And Why Does Food Rot? From Wonderopolis:

Some foods, such as fruits and vegetables, have thick cell walls that keep the food in an edible state for several days or even weeks. Over time, though, those cell walls begin to break down. When this happens, you can feel these fruits and vegetables become less solid. They may also begin to turn colors, smell bad, and taste even worse!

What causes these changes within foods? Some of the primary culprits are air, moisture, light, temperature, and microbial growth. When two or more of these culprits get together, they can accelerate the spoiling process even further.

rotten fruit
Watch these related decomposition videos next:
• How Does Oakland Turn Food Scraps to Soil?
• Veggies decompose in months-long time lapses
• Soil Life in Action: Bioturbation with and without soil fauna
• The Very Hungry Maggot: How larva farming can help reduce food waste

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