In: Biology
My biology teacher has asked this question: "what happen to firmness of the Jello if you add no sugar comparing to adding 3, 6, and 9 teaspoons of sugar? What will be the results in the 4 Jello products?" Thanks in advance.
Jello is made up of gelatin which protein obtained from treated collagen of animal tissues. Chemically it is a protein which absorbs water referred to as blooming and forms a gel. When gelatin is heated it loses its gelling property and should carefully treated with temperature
Firmness of gelatin (in this case Jello) depends on the ratio of water used, temperature employed (high temperatures increase gelling time), and other (sugar in this case)additives which interfere with its gelling.
Sugar increases the firmness of gelatin, but it should be kept in mind that too much of sugar can inhibit the gelling property of gelatin.
Sugar increases the melting point of gelatin, which makes it stiff over longer temperature fluctuation. But high amount of sucrose may compete for the water molecules in the gelatin and makes it softer.
So, here is the answer for the question:
1. Product with no sugar: Gelatin is soft and melts easily. So, the firmness is less
2. Product with 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar: Sugar increases the melting point of gelatin, and firmness of the gelatin when compared to the product number 1 in the above case with no sugar. Sugar occupies the free zones in the gelatin, and make the structure of gelatin more complex (Remember gelatin is a protein molecule which is having several helical loops. Spaces in these loops are occupied by the sugar molecules making the gelatin more denser and more firmer)
3. Product with 6 tablespoonfuls of sugar: This product shows more rigidity when compared to the product with 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar, as more and more sugar molecules are pumped into the helices of gelating making it more firm
4. Product with 9 tablespoonfuls of sugar: It should be remembered that too high sugar concentration, softens the gelatin, as sugar attracts water molecules into the structure of gelatin making it less firm.
This is dependent on the amount and nature of gelatin used. So, 9tablespoonfulls of sucrose ,may be too high for the given product and may led to soft jelo product.
This should be prctically verified for confirmation whether this 9tablespoonfulls are more than the threshold concentration.
Theoretically, the order of firmness in the given product of jelo is
Product 1with no sugar< product with 3 table spoonfuls of sugar<product with 6tablespoonfulls of sugar>product with 9tablespoonfulls of sugar.