You've all seen it. You forget a loaf of bread in a bread bin or bag, and after a few days you start to notice blue, green and black fluff growing on the surface of the bread. Mold is a common problem. Why does bread grow moldy? The answer lies in understanding what mold is, where it is and how it lives.

What is mold?

Mold is a representative of the fungal kingdom, which is separate in the classification of plants and animals. Common edible mushrooms also fall into this category. These are organisms that do not require chlorophyll, so they do not receive energy directly from the sun. This means that mushrooms must use plants and animals as a food source. This is why bread can get moldy: because of the ingredients in its composition, it is an excellent source of nutrition for many types of mushrooms.

How does she get to our house?

Mold enters the bread through airborne spores. Although you cannot see them, there are millions of them around you.

These spores can accumulate in the dust around your home, which is raised when sweeping, from the wind, or simply by a person passing by. Spores can infiltrate your home, settle on your bread, and mold will start. Mold lives and feeds on bread. This is why she can quickly cover an entire loaf if allowed to. Mold multiplies at a high rate - sometimes it can double in size within an hour.

What is mold?

Penicillin is the first antibiotic made from mushrooms penicillium chrysogenum, and this discovery belongs to Alexander Fleming, a great scientist. It is found in noble blue cheeses and is very beneficial for the body. But not all mold is good. It comes in a variety of colors.

Black most often covers old bread. Greenish blue - cheese. Green fuzz usually spreads on oranges that sit too long in a humid environment. Mushrooms are a great boon for humanity. Without yeast, there would be no bread or beer. Mushrooms are used to make antibiotics, soy sauce, miso, sake, tofu, and many other foods.

On the other hand, many plant diseases that have ended in death for them are caused precisely by mold. The Irish famine was caused by potato late blight. Most of America's great chestnut forests have been destroyed in 50 years by a fungus introduced into the United States on a tree planted in a botanical garden. Mushrooms are responsible for trillions of dollars in food spoilage annually worldwide.

Mold - plant or fungi?

Have you ever opened a loaf of bread that has been in the kitchen for a long time and saw dark stains? This is mold. What happens when you leave the bread open for a while longer? Mold spreads quickly and all bread turns green or black and looks very unappetizing.

But mold is a simple fungus that takes nutrients from bread for its growth and reproduction and damages its surface. Mold grows on bread from microscopic fungi belonging to various species. They come in different shapes and colors depending on the species.

Rhizopus stolonifer (black mold) - the most common on bread, which, moreover, grows very quickly. It also causes fruit rot and some infections in the human body. Microscopic pieces of moldy bread, known as spores, float in the air around us. They can be found on any surface and in any condition. It is the spores that settle on the surface of the bread, which can be left open under normal conditions, say, in the kitchen. They germinate, form colonies, which begin to grow on the surface of the bread, absorbing all the moisture and nutrients from it. The growth rate of bread mold depends on several factors, and the ambient temperature is the most important one.

Causes of mold growth and how to slow it down

Mold growth will slow down if the bread is stored in the refrigerator. It should be noted that most molds thrive in temperatures above 70 ° C, and low temperatures in the refrigerator are unfavorable for mold. Place a slice of bread in the freezer and mold growth will stop completely until the temperature is right.

Why does bread grow moldy? Bread mold is a living organism that requires moisture and oxygen to grow. The moisture in the plastic bag allows the fungus to grow at a faster rate. However, since it is considered a fungus, not a plant, it does not require sunlight to increase or decrease its growth rate.

Let's conduct an experiment and find out how and why bread grows moldy

We need:

• fresh bread from the bakery;
• cotton pad;
• pipette;
• water;
• plastic bag;
• Scotch;
• empty milk carton;
• disposable gloves.

Experiment:

1. Collect some dust from the ground with a small cotton pad.
2. Rub a piece of fresh bread with it.
3. Using a pipette, add five to six drops of water to a slice of bread.
4. Put it in a plastic bag and seal it.
5. Now place this sealed bag of bread in an empty milk carton.
6. Close the box tightly with tape.
7. Leave the box alone for two days.

What do you see when you open the package two days later? The bread is completely covered in fluffy black or greenish spots. Why does bread grow moldy? The dust that was placed on the bread brought in fungal spores, causing mold to grow on it.

Mold prevention

• Why does bread grow moldy quickly? Moisture promotes faster mold growth. Therefore, do not store bread in a humid environment. It is best to leave it in the same bag in which you brought it from the bakery.
• Why is store bread moldy? Most likely, it contains fats or old bread was used in its preparation. If you are making bread at home, use ingredients that are free of fat rather than butter, eggs, milk, etc. This will keep the bread fresh for longer.
• A bread box is another option for storing bread for a long time. Choosing bread bins made from wood, clay, and metal are best for storing bread, as they can keep it dry and do not accumulate moisture.
• Why does sourdough bread grow moldy? Most likely because it was packed too hot or the roll is oversized.
• Never store bread at room temperature or in the refrigerator for an extended period. Freezing will be useful if long-term storage is required.
• It takes a little extra effort to preserve the bread in the summer. Do not store bread in an airtight plastic container, and if you have a homemade or sliced ​​loaf, wrap it in wax paper and place it in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.
• Finally, try to keep bread and other similar foods as fresh as possible. If you see mold just appearing on food, do not try to cut it out and then eat the food. Remember that mold has already grown inside it.
• Why doesn't Borodino bread grow moldy? Its acidity is higher than that of ordinary ones, this does not allow mold to grow.

Mold harm to humans

Moldy bread contains spores and should therefore not be touched with bare hands. Remember: bread mold is a real poison! Having consumed such bread, an adult can be poisoned, and the child can go to intensive care. With frequent consumption of moldy bread, asthma, allergies or even cancer can develop.

In case of mold poisoning, there may be the following symptoms: dizziness, nausea and vomiting, headaches, diarrhea. Black mold is considered especially dangerous. Symptoms are similar to colds, so they may not immediately alert a person. And at this time, the body is already poisoned, and the patient's condition worsens: pressure jumps, breathing problems, headaches appear. In any such situation, you should immediately seek medical help.

Black tin bread (Fazer) Term: "best consumed before" April 12 Ingredients: rye flour, water, wheat flour, sugar, rye malt flour, barley malt extract, yeast, table salt Price: 0.65 euros

The higher sugar content in rye bread prevents the formation of mold, bread with seeds grows moldy faster due to the increased humidity.

The assortment of breads in the store is getting richer, and even the most educated shoppers can find it difficult to know which bread to choose. Many of us are guided not only by price when buying bread; we want to know the composition of the bread and how long it will be stored without losing its taste.

“I bought black mold bread from Eesti Pagar, the packaging of which says that it does not contain E-additives. The bread is very good, it has been awarded the “Tunnustatud Eesti maitse 2005” label - “Recognized Estonian Taste 2005”. But his son advised against buying this bread, referring to the fact that it does not even grow moldy. Indeed, I conducted an experiment - I kept the bread in a plastic bag for a month - and I made sure that the bread did not grow moldy and remained soft, ”a Postimees reader wrote to us.

We decided to find out why one bread grows moldy quickly, and the other does not. Is it true that some rye breads contain preservatives that are not listed on the packaging, or they contain some mysterious ingredients that prevent the growth of mold fungi?

As all manufacturers have assured us, in the process of baking bread, no special ingredients are added to it that would prevent the formation of mold, and no secret methods are used. But there are a number of reasons why one bread molds faster or slower than another.

We decided to conduct our own experiment and on 8 April bought eight types of rye tin bread from the grocery department of the Tallinn Trade House. They were sliced ​​halves of loaves, packed in plastic bags. According to the manufacturers, no bread contains preservatives. We have chosen very different breads: classic rye, several types of bread with seeds, bread made by hand, etc. eco-bread. As it was clear from the dates indicated on the package, it was advisable to use the bread before April 10-13, i.e. the bread should not have gone bad for five days.

We kept the bread at room temperature in closed bags. The experiment lasted exactly one month, and we were impressed by the results: mold appeared on only three loaves, the other five looked quite edible in a month.

In order to be convinced of this, we opened the packages and conducted a small test for taste and smell.

On April 13, five days after the start of the experiment, mold spots appeared on Karja Terviseleib bread, which had a shelf life of April 10. Soon the bread was covered with a layer of green mold, the spores of which flew out of the hole in the package.

Heat and moisture matter

As explained by Aivo Kanemägi, head of Karja Pagariäri, Terviseleib has a shelf life of five days and no preservatives are used when baking bread. The composition of Terviseleib (the name can be translated as “bread for health”), as the head of the company explained, includes high-quality natural raw materials, a special fermentation is used for fermentation.

“Bread grows moldy quickly in a warm and humid atmosphere, such as room temperature,” Kanemäe said, adding that the process of mold formation depends on the season; thus, the most favorable month for mold formation is August.

Mildew is also promoted by the high moisture content of the bread. Karja Pagariäri pan bread is characterized by high humidity, which allows it to stay fresh longer. In plastic bags, in which such bread is packed, there are special holes so that moisture can evaporate. “Moisture comes out through these holes, but molds penetrate through them. They are always in the air, including in sales areas and store warehouses, ”said Kanemägi.

The seeds added to the bread can also contribute to the formation of mold, since they are the ones on which the mold spores are located. The flax, sunflower and sesame seeds contained in Karja Terviseleib bind water, thereby increasing the moisture content of the bread.

“If you chose other types of bread that we bake, for example, rye bread or bread with raisins, you would make sure that they are less moldy. Often, as a result of long-term storage, such bread does not grow moldy at all, but only grows stale, because moisture evaporates through the holes on the package, ”said Kanemyagi.

In our experiment, we also involved other breads containing seeds, which by the end of the experiment were not covered with mold.

One week after the start of our experiment, we noticed the appearance of mold on the tender black (eco) bread from Vändra Ökopagar, which should have been consumed "better before" April 11th. The white mold that appeared on the bread looked like cotton wool.

Vändra Ökopagar production manager Indrek Laaniste said that the shelf life of bread is four days, and the company's products do not contain preservatives. “As a rule, bread stays fresh longer under normal storage conditions. Bread grows moldy faster if you store it in a warm and humid place, the specialist noted. - Breadbins, which can be infected with mold, also contribute to the formation of mold. Bread with seeds and grains molds faster. "

Cleanliness is the main enemy of mold

A week later (April 15) the first mildew spots appeared on the classic Leibur whole grain rye bread, which should have been consumed "better before" April 10. Leibur bread was the only one in the experiment that did not contain sugar. According to Heldi Käär, author of the whole wheat rye bread recipe, the high sugar content prevents mildew, but generally the bread does not contain a lot of sugar. Käär, developing a bread recipe, decided to do without sugar altogether.

According to Käär, the shelf life of bread (and it does not contain preservatives) is three days. “The shelf life of bread in unopened packaging depends on how carefully hygiene requirements are followed at all stages. Wholegrain bread is more acidic than bread made with fine flour, ”she said, explaining why Leibur bread can stay fresh for a long time.

“If the bread contains grains, seeds and is baked from whole grain flour, then there is a high probability that along with the raw materials there will be a lot of molds in it. But in general, bread's resistance to mold depends more on the manufacturing process, the acidity of the bread and especially on how clean the environment in which the baked bread gets into is, ”Käär said.

Breads with a short fermentation period and low acidity tend to mold faster, she said. “It is the acidity of the bread that prevents it from growing mold, as mold develops more slowly in an acidic environment,” she said.

Mold did not appear on the rest of the bread used in the experiment. On May 8, we decided to check what it tasted like, whether it had lost its aroma.

The bread does not lose its taste even after a month

As the chief technologist of Eesti Pagar Monika Ahlberg said even before the start of the experiment, after the expiration of the shelf life, the bread may lose its characteristic smell and taste, its texture may change, but the main thing is that after the expiration date, the bread does not pose a danger to humans. if the storage conditions are observed. We decided to take a chance and after almost a month after the expiration of the "better before" period we tasted the bread.

Eesti Pagar black loaf had a wonderful smell, it remained soft and tasty. The bread with Jassi seeds had a wonderful aroma, and long-term storage did not affect its taste in any way, the bread remained soft. The period for the sale of both bread is four to five days. “When baking rye bread, we use rye sourdough. Thanks to the sourdough, the bread has a good taste, smell, it does not stale for a long time. And this despite the fact that the bread does not contain preservatives, ”said Ahlberg.

Due to the fact that Eesti Pagar uses a natural sourdough based on rye flour when preparing the dough, bread has a longer shelf life than baked goods made from non-fermented dough. While Eesti Pagar bread surprised us by staying fresh for a long time, Oti tin bread (Euroleib) became stale during the experiment, losing its aroma and taste.

As Euroleib technologist Ene Seer said, the bread does not contain preservatives. “Malt, especially dark malt, in the composition of bread improves its taste, extends the shelf life. Bread made from rye flour with a long fermentation process has a more delicate taste and does not grow moldy for a long time, ”she explained.

During the experiment, the rye bread with sprouted seeds baked by the company Lõuna Pagarid also became stale during the experiment. “Molds are very sensitive to acids and salt. Since the acidic environment prevents the growth of mold, we use a natural starter, which makes the dough more acidic and resistant to mold, ”said Mikko Pihtie from Lõuna Pagarid.

According to manufacturers, the appearance of mold depends on whether the bread is packed in plastic or paper. In a paper bag, bread will harden faster, but not moldy. In a plastic bag, bread retains moisture longer, so in stores, bread is sold mainly in them.

In conclusion, we note that the experiment ended well for the bread taster. So if digestion is in order, hunger can be satisfied with a piece of bread, forgotten for a month in the breadbox, although just in case we would not recommend doing this.

Why used to be stale bread, but now moldy?

Now there are so many additives for the production of bread - various improvers, stabilizers ...

One gets the impression that there will be no bread without them ... And if there is also a recipe for mass cheap bread, then this is generally a bomb with all these E-shkami.

And also - storage of bread in plastic bags ... but not new, but used more than once ...

Very often I bake homemade bread, so it has never moldy yet, but only dries

Any bread will grow moldy if the humidity and temperature are favorable for mold growth. Yeast is a type of mold. In one house, bread grows moldy in a day, and in another in three days, depending on the cleanliness and humidity in the house. And if you remember how it used to be, so before bread was not stored in plastic bags, so the bread dried out, but did not mold.

And here is my point of view, why before the bread was simply stale, but now it is growing moldy. Once I came across the topic of baking, and this is what I learned: earlier, in ancient times, each housewife had her own recipe for baking bread. They were proud of the bread, they served on the table on a towel, the uneaten bread was wrapped in the cloth, and not in cellophane, and the bread could lie for up to a month, becoming only drier over time. What's the matter? The fact is that for the dough in baking they used natural leaven, which had to be cooked for, of course, more than one hour. And now in bakery they use thermal yeast, on which bread was quickly squeezed and in large quantities, and not by the piece. Here is bread and moldy, that is, fungi develop in it, which will not bring us health unequivocally.

Bread grows moldy, because in its manufacture such enzymes are used, which are activated during high humidity or long storage and turn into mold. If the bread was baked according to the previous technology without the addition of incomprehensible ingredients, it would become stale.

The whole problem is in increasing the profitability of production, usually by reducing the cost of production.

1) Using low-quality flour.

2) Adding to the composition of potatoes (dry powder; by the way, this makes the bread even stronger crumbles).

3) Non-compliance with baking technology.

It is believed that modern bread quickly grows moldy due to minor violations of production technology during its baking.

The fact is that not all bread produced by the bakery is sold out within the allotted time. And part of it, with expired statute of limitations, comes back. Where expired bread, in order to save money, is crushed and added to fresh dough. And this is the addition of bread that has already begun to grow moldy and leads to the fact that this fresh bread is moldy again faster than it becomes stale.

Of course, over the years, the technology of making bread on an industrial scale has changed and, unfortunately, not for the better, it should be noted that now there are many artificial additives in bread that prevent it from hardening and drying.

The whole trouble is that even in such a thing as baking bread, now more and more innovations are being introduced, which do not always have a beneficial effect on the quality of the product!

More and more often, in addition to flour, water and yeast, in the manufacture of bread, various chemical additives: improvers, leavening agents, stabilizers, etc. etc.

Those products that could not be sold are returned back to the plant and all this is processed (including already moldy bread), crushed and added as additional ingredients to future bread. This allows us to make the production cost lower, but alas, the quality suffers from this, although the bread still corresponds to modern GOSTs and TUs.

In general, we can once again make sure that cheaper does not mean better !

The appearance of mold on bread depends on many factors. Now, apparently large manufacturers are violating the storage technology of the entire chain of products: grain, flour, bread.

Plus, you need to look at all the additives that contribute to the appearance of fungi. Often very additions can be in the form of expired bread. Manufacturers, in order to save money, return unsold bread back to the bakery, grind it and add it to fresh bread.

And you also need to take into account that according to modern technology, bread can be baked very quickly using baking powder. With this technology, it does not have time to ripen, and this is already a nutrient medium for microspores of fungi.

And before that there weren’t such a variety of additives, and the yeast was based on hops, and hops prevent the formation of mold. But in my opinion now large manufacturers do not use it at all.

The quality of bread is determined by many parameters, taking into account various indicators. Most of them are known only to specialists. Ordinary customers are perplexed why the bread from the store grows moldy, although it seems to be stale.

Incorrect storage?

Manufacturers claim that baked goods become moldy due to improper storage. The population buys food in plastic bags, and stores in them. Favorable conditions are created for the development of mold. Heat is another reason for the rapid appearance of characteristic white and gray-green spots on the rind and cut of flour products.

Roskontrol experts found out that mold spores get on the surface of the bread after baking - during laying, cooling and transportation. Microbes are present in the air of bakery shops, settle on equipment, containers, clothing of workers.

The rate of spore germination and mold formation depends on the following reasons:

• technology, preparation method (accelerated, leavened, unpaired, sponge);
• recipes, acidity, mode of preparation of bakery products;
• the presence of special processing by microwave rays or other methods;
• storage conditions.

Experts say that quick spoilage of bakery products is not related to the quality of grain and yeast. Baking takes place at a temperature of about 245 ° C, and the spores die already when heated to 80 ° C.

Quality bread must grow moldy

Wheat bread under normal conditions is covered with a white-gray bloom on the fourth or sixth day. Products made from rye or a mixture of two types of flour - on the sixth-eighth day. Bread with higher acidity is more resistant to fungi. Rye may not be moldy for more than 8 days.

If baked goods do not mold for a long time, it means that they contain acidifying microbiological additives. Also, the development of the fungus is delayed by iodized salt, milk whey in the composition of products.

The addition of bran, rice flour, oats, buckwheat, fruit or vegetable powders, on the other hand, accelerates the growth of mold.

The most unpleasant reason for buyers is that the technology allows the addition of soaked stale bread, not sold by stores, to the dough during production. Products traveling from the bakery to the store and back are covered with a large number of fungal spores. The likelihood of their getting on fresh flour products increases.

The appearance of mold on modern bread does not necessarily mean that the technology was violated during its production. Storage in a plastic bag in a warm room is sufficient for the growth of fungal spores.

Is mold dangerous?

The fungus is visible on the surface of the bread in the form of plaque. However, the mycelium enters and infects the entire loaf. Cutting off the moldy rind does not prevent the bread from further spoilage. Eating such a product is dangerous: it is contaminated with toxins.

Mold spores are invisible, but they are present everywhere - on packaging, knives, in a bread bin. The air contains fungi and bacteria, but insulating bread in a plastic bag will not get rid of them. Bakery products are initially infected with mold; only in the first days after purchase, its growth is still invisible.

Under favorable conditions - warm, with high humidity - spores germinate quickly. Threads penetrate into the bread, through which the outer part of the fungus receives nutrients. The upper dark portion of the mold spots are clusters of many new maturing spores.

• Bread should be stored in a paper bag, which can be placed in a loosely closed plastic bag.
• To get rid of mold, you need to wash the bread bin with water and vinegar once a week. The same processing is needed for knives, countertops.
• It is better to keep the bread in the refrigerator, then it does not grow moldy, but stale, but slowly.

A decrease in temperature slows down the germination of spores and the development of mycelium. The microscopic pest becomes inactive, does not grow or multiply. In this way, you can save the bread from the store from mold. But the best option is to buy as much as you can eat in a couple of days.

"Bread is the head of everything" is an old folk saying. Each of us knows how pleasant the aroma of freshly baked bread is, but the trouble is that this product very often begins to mold quickly. What's going on and why does bread grow moldy, especially the store?

Why does bread grow moldy

How bread molds

First of all, you need to figure out what happens to the bread during the mold process. And this is what happens to him. In a warm and humid environment, bread is most susceptible to mold infestation in the air.

Once on the surface of the bread, they begin to actively multiply and secrete mycotoxins... First, the moldy fungus affects the surface of the roll, especially accumulating in the places of cracks, and then through these very cracks it begins to penetrate deeper and deeper into the bread. That is why such bread should not be eaten, even if outwardly the lesions of the fungus are visible only on the crust. The fact is that moldy fungus has mycelium species, that is, long, practically invisible to the human eye, threads that penetrate deep into the bread.

Why does bread get moldy

The reasons for moldy bread are different - this is mainly due to improper storage, but recently, poor-quality raw materials for baking have become more and more to blame.

Improper storage.

It is not recommended to store bread in a warm room, where the air temperature reaches +25 - (+30) C, and besides, it is also high, about 70-80% humidity. Such conditions are most favorable for the growth of molds. Also, there is no need to store bread in a tightly wrapped plastic bag, as it can "sweat" and, as a result, high humidity will be established in the bag, which again will lead to mold infection of the bread.

Best to store bread tightly closed in ordinary wooden bread bins, which must always be perfectly clean. Sometimes, if you want to leave the bread for a long time, then to protect it from mold, its surface is smeared with ethyl alcohol or sorbic acid. However, you should not do this too often, just as you do not need to buy bread for future use - it is best to buy fresh baked goods every day.

Poor quality raw materials.

Very often, bread producers begin to save on raw materials in order to increase the profitability of production. So, for example, bread baked from low-quality, low-grade flour more prone to mold than the one that was baked according to all the rules and standards. Sometimes in the composition of bread you can find various chemical additives and even mashed potatoes (naturally not real, but powdered) - all this leads to the fact that the quality of the product is noticeably reduced, and therefore, such bread crumbles and molds much faster. Unfortunately, this is practically impossible to avoid and it is very difficult to control, so the only way out of the situation is to completely abandon purchased bread and prepare fresh baked goods at home on your own. If you are not satisfied with this option and there is a catastrophic lack of time or patience to bake homemade bread, then at least do not buy store baked goods for future use for a long time, but rather buy it as it dies. By the way, it should be noted that rye bread has a much longer shelf life than white wheat. The reason for this is its high acidity.

Now you know why bread grows moldy, and you will probably try to avoid situations that provoke this unpleasant process. After all, moldy bread not only acquires an unpleasant taste and smell, but also becomes a source of toxic substances. Scientists have long established that mold is one of the provocateurs of the development of cancer cells, so do not risk your health and do not eat spoiled food.