Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL - CARAGA REGION CAMPUS

Kitchen Laboratory 1: Rub It! Salt and Potato Investigation

Objective: To demonstrate how salt affects food samples.
Materials Needed:
2 slices of potato or any root crop/fruit/vegetable (with same size and thickness)
2 pieces saucers
1 sharp knife
1 chopping board
1 teaspoon salt
marker for labeling
Procedure:
1. Prepare all the needed materials.
2. Clean all the materials and the working area before the start of the activity.
3. Slice the potatoes into halves (cross-section). Prepare 2 pieces of sliced potatoes with
the same size and thickness (approximately ½ inch thick), one slice per saucer.
4. Label each plate (plate #1 with salt and plate #2 without salt). Refer to Figures 6 & 7.
5. Put ½ teaspoon of salt on top of the slice of potato in plate #1.
6. Leave the other slice (control) in plate #2 without anything.
7. Wait for at least 20 minutes to one hour before observing.
8. Observe and record your data

Observation:
Draw or attach the pictures of the setups here. See to it that they are correctly labeled. (4 points)

Salt No Salt

Figure 1 Potato with salt after 1 hour Figure 2 Potato without Salt after 1 hour
 Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
PHILIPPINE SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL - CARAGA REGION CAMPUS

Questions:
1. What have you observed on the two setups after 30 minutes or 1 hour? Describe what you
saw. (2 points)
The potato with salt felt soft and wet on the surface. When I touched the surface, it felt
moist and squishy and there were more brownish spots compared to the potato without salt. It
was also observed that liquid pooled in the area surrounding the potato with salt. The potato
without salt had a surface that felt more solid and firm. The strength of the surface almost felt
the same as it did one hour ago. There were also lesser brown spots and the top layer felt dry.
2. Explain the phenomenon observed in the setups. (2 points)
Osmosis occurred during the hour which caused the major discoloration, surface
softening, and pooling liquid of the potato with salt. Osmosis is a process whereby liquid transfers
from an area with less solutes to an area of more solutes. Moisture within the potato has less
solute concentration which is why it moves towards the surface where it has a higher solute
concentration. The movement of liquids is possible due to the presence of a semi-permeable
membrane, which is the potato.
3. How is the observed phenomenon related to salting? (2 points)
Salting is a method used to preserve food. It is important to remove water from fresh
produce for preservation because water is the breeding ground for microorganisms that cause
spoilage. Osmosis plays a huge role in this process because the presence of salt allows the
moisture to naturally move away from within the produce leaving no space for bacteria to grow.