Mold on curd (homemade yogurt)!!!
Jun 22, 2018 • 3:48 AM UTC
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uditsans
Hi, My name is Udit Sancheti. I am an undergraduate at IIT Kanpur, majoring in Chemistry. I was introduced to foldscopes during my summer internship at TIFR Hyderabad. While there, I worked with TCIS Outreach to promote the usage of foldscopes, in nearby schools, as a device for scientific education.
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Mold on curd, is that even possible?
That was my first reaction when I first saw it happen, and I bet many of you would have reacted similarly. Let us walk you through the whole sequence of events as they happened. However let me clarify, I wasn’t looking for mold on curd, it just happened.
After my previous post on parts of a flower , I thought of looking at fungi. And what is the easiest source of fungi? Bread mold. I cultured some in my flat and observed them under foldscope.
That was my first reaction when I first saw it happen, and I bet many of you would have reacted similarly. Let us walk you through the whole sequence of events as they happened. However let me clarify, I wasn’t looking for mold on curd, it just happened.
After my previous post on parts of a flower , I thought of looking at fungi. And what is the easiest source of fungi? Bread mold. I cultured some in my flat and observed them under foldscope.
Mold on bread
The petri dish, where mold were left to grow.
The mycelium
The Mycelium [enlarged] Note: This would have been the end of my post had I not been greedy of getting a better sample.
While the whole observation of mold on bread was going on, I also thought of observing bacteria in curd. I brought some curd after finishing with the above observation and tried to observe the bacteria. Unlucky for me, I didn’t find any bacteria, I decided to retry the next day and kept the Petri dishes of my samples (both curd and bread crumbs) in the same cupboard.
After 3 days of futile observations, I found the bread looked the same but on the curd, there were some yellow patches along with many black spores (pictured below) on the fourth day.
While the whole observation of mold on bread was going on, I also thought of observing bacteria in curd. I brought some curd after finishing with the above observation and tried to observe the bacteria. Unlucky for me, I didn’t find any bacteria, I decided to retry the next day and kept the Petri dishes of my samples (both curd and bread crumbs) in the same cupboard.
After 3 days of futile observations, I found the bread looked the same but on the curd, there were some yellow patches along with many black spores (pictured below) on the fourth day.
The yellow patches and black spores on one side of the Petri dish wall
Black spores on curd
Black spores on curd [enlarged] By the next morning, the entire petri dish was covered with mold and I viewed it under the microscope.
Petri dish of curd covered with mold
Microscopic view of the Petri dish, showing the tip of the hyphae After few days, the petri dish was densely covered with mold and this is how it looked under the foldscope.
The mycelium is similar to the one in bread mold
An enlarged view
Individual hypha I feel the mold belongs to the Aspergillus genus, based on the appearance of the hyphae. I would like someone to confirm the same.
Cheers, Udit .
Cheers, Udit .
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