Bread Mold Is Everywhere - Wonder Why?

Bread mold is one of the most common species of mold in the world. It is so prolific, bread molds lie virtually everywhere in wait of a place to live and grow.

Bread mold grows easily, but is also fairly easy to be rid of and control. Keeping bread and surfaces clean and dry, or storing bread in a cold place like a refrigerator stifles the ability of the mold to grow on bread and on counters.

Black bread mold is perhaps the most commonly recognized worldwide, but there are other varieties of bread molds of other colors. Mold growth on bread of black, red, green, or any other color of mold is not a complicated matter, even though people often wonder ‘why does bread mold?’ The simple truth is that bread molds because the whole wheat flour in bread is a good food source. Bread is also stored often in warm kitchen spaces. For the growth of bread mold, moisture is needed and fresh bread has that, too. Mold and bread are the perfect partners, from the standpoint of the mold spore.

Though the common mold on bread is a nuisance, it is also a source of more industrious uses than ruining food supplies. Bread molds are used in the production of some cheeses and for medical purposes as well, contrary as that might seem. In the ongoing battle against bacteria, bread mold and its relatives have proven effective allies. Penicillin, the first wide-spectrum antibiotic and still used today, is produced from mold spores. The red bread mold Neurospora is a useful tool in genetic research.

For the merely curious budding scientist, a bread mold experiment makes the perfect science fair project. Getting mold to grow quickly on bread for a bread mold science project is easy - dampen a piece of bread and wipe it across a table or kitchen surface. Store the bread in a plastic container for two or three days in a warm place.

Some interesting takes on the bread mold science project could actually prove useful. Students could try to figure out the affect on bread mold of preservatives by growing bread molds on homemade and store-bought bread. Pictures of bread mold could be used to determine the species of bread mold as closely as possible. Students might also set out to find out which brand of bread molds quickest - useful information for the household grocery shopper to have. (Just a hint - it’s probably a whole-wheat bread; white bread isn’t very nutritious even for mold.)

Mold is something we as humans look on with ill-repute, but in all fairness, our world would be less enjoyable (and deathly) without the help of some molds. Others are exactly opposite, dangerous sources of allergy and disease to be reckoned with. And then there is bread mold somewhere in between. A pain in the kitchen, but easily discarded, and a fun source of interesting school experimentation.