Krutsinger presents science project at Academy of Science annual meeting

Chase County Schools senior Gabbi Krutsinger attended the American Junior Academy of Science annual meeting in Seattle earlier this month.
Krutsinger and four other students from Nebraska were nominated by the Nebraska Academy of Science to attend the conference.
She qualified for the national science fair in April after placing in the top six for the senior division at the Nebraska state science fair.
Krutsinger’s research is titled “Natural Preservatives and Bread Shelf Life.”
“This experience was a fantastic opportunity to grow as a scientist,” Krutsinger said. “I was blessed to be able to represent Nebraska and Chase County Schools.”
Project summary
Krutsinger said the project was designed to see if natural preservatives added to homemade white bread would increase its shelf life.
“Based on research prior to experimentation, four natural preservatives were chosen for the experiment: honey, rosemary extract, vitamin C powder and vinegar,” she said.
Her hypothesis states, “The bread loaf with rosemary extract will have the longest shelf life compared to the other bread loaves with honey, vitamin C powder and vinegar.”
For the experiment, one loaf of white bread was made using the original recipe as a control.
The recipe was repeated four more times with two tablespoons of honey, rosemary extract, vitamin C powder and vinegar added to the dough before baking.
All loaves received the same treatment and were stored in the Lazy Susan cabinet in the house. Every day during a trial, mold growth was recorded with gloved hands and organized into a data table.
Each trial lasted a week and the experiment concluded with three completed trials.
“The hypothesis was rejected because during all three trials, honey had the longest shelf life compared to the other natural preservatives added,” Krutsinger said.
“Rosemary extract had the next longest shelf life followed by vinegar. The shelf life of the vitamin C powder was the shortest as it began molding even before the control bread loaves in all three trials,” she added.