Chem at the dinner table

ah well. lunch table perhaps.. but in any case...

1. Chlorophyll is an indicator. (got on this topic cos the broccoli looked unbelievably green) So, it's yellow in acidic medium and really green in alkaline. that's why the veggie we get with wanton mee (i never understand what's so wanton abt noodles. defamatory!) is so green all the time... cos the noodles are made with alkali water or sthg like that.

2. the fishy smell seafood exudes is due to a volatile amine group. that's why we get tea with lime to clean our hands with... cos of the citric and tannic acid! there's neutralisation and then the product is ionic, and heh. it gets less volatile! :) that's all.

quite fun :D very academic :) and ah well. food chem periodically surfaces to my mind during lunch and dinner as well! the whole works with maillard reaction/nonenzymic browning and all that :)