Amazing Food Facts
Discover surprising facts about everyday ingredients, from chocolate and popcorn to fruit and vegetables.
Preview
Questions with solutions-
1. Заполните пропуск.
When grapes are dried, they become ___.
- prunes
- raisins
- dates
Think of the small dried fruit often found in oatmeal cookies.
Show solution
When grapes are dried, they become raisins.
Drying removes much of a grape's water, so its natural sugar becomes more concentrated.
-
2. Выберите правильный ответ.
Which food is made using these seeds?
Cacao trees produce large fruits with seeds inside. The seeds are dried and roasted before being used in food.
- Coffee
- Black pepper
- Chocolate
Show solution
- Chocolate
Cocoa butter, the natural fat in cacao seeds, helps chocolate melt smoothly in your mouth.
-
3. Выберите правильный ответ.
Where do peanut pods develop?
A peanut plant's flowers grow above the ground. After a flower blooms and fades, a small stem grows downward into the soil.
- Below the surface of the soil
- On the plant's highest branches
- Inside flowers above the ground
Follow the direction of the small stem.
Show solution
- Below the surface of the soil
Despite their name, peanuts belong to the same plant family as beans and peas.
-
4. Заполните пропуск.
Cinnamon sticks are made from the inner ___ of certain trees.
- wood
- sap
- bark
Think of a tree's outer covering.
Show solution
Cinnamon sticks are made from the inner bark of certain trees.
The thin pieces of inner bark curl as they dry. Ground cinnamon is the same material made into powder.
-
5. Выберите правильный ответ.
Which part of the plant provides vanilla flavor?
Vanilla comes from a climbing orchid. Its long fruit is often called a “vanilla bean.”
- The roots
- The long fruit
- The leaves
Show solution
- The long fruit
The fruit is treated and dried after it is picked to develop the familiar vanilla flavor.
-
6. Выберите правильный ответ.
What makes a popcorn kernel burst?
A popcorn kernel has a hard outer shell and a little water inside. As the kernel heats up, the water becomes steam.
- Steam builds up pressure inside the shell.
- The outer shell melts into liquid.
- The shell shrinks as all the water escapes.
Think about what happens when steam cannot escape.
Show solution
- Steam builds up pressure inside the shell.
When the shell breaks, the sudden release of pressure helps the soft inside expand into fluffy popcorn.
-
7. Заполните пропуск.
Honey can become grainy over time. The crystals that form are mostly made of ___.
- salt
- fat
- sugar
Think about what makes honey sweet.
Show solution
Honey can become grainy over time. The crystals that form are mostly made of sugar.
Crystals alone do not mean honey has gone bad. Gentle warming can make it smooth again.
-
8. Заполните пропуск.
An egg white becomes firm as it cooks.
The ___ in an egg change shape when heated and join together to form a firm structure.
- fats
- proteins
- sugars
Think of the nutrient that eggs are especially known for.
Show solution
The proteins in an egg change shape when heated and join together to form a firm structure.
These changes do not reverse when the egg cools, so a cooked egg does not become raw again.
-
9. Выберите правильный ответ.
Why can pressing plastic wrap against the cut surface slow browning?
Oxygen in the air reacts with substances inside a cut apple, turning its surface brown.
- It removes the apple's natural acids.
- It absorbs water from inside the apple.
- It limits contact with oxygen.
Show solution
- It limits contact with oxygen.
This color change does not by itself mean the apple is unsafe to eat.
-
10. Выберите правильный ответ.
Why might chilling an onion before cutting it reduce tears?
Cutting an onion releases a gas that can irritate your eyes. The reactions that produce this gas happen more slowly when the onion is cold.
- It slows the production of the irritating gas.
- It removes all the water from the onion.
- It removes the substances that give onions flavor.
Show solution
- It slows the production of the irritating gas.
Chilling can reduce tears, but it does not stop all the gas from forming.
-
11. Выберите правильный ответ.
Why does the dough rise?
Yeast feeds on sugar and releases a gas called carbon dioxide. Bread dough traps this gas in small bubbles.
- The yeast turns sugar into extra flour.
- The gas bubbles make the dough expand.
- The yeast removes water, making the dough swell.
Think about the space that bubbles take up.
Show solution
- The gas bubbles make the dough expand.
The dough needs a stretchy structure to hold the gas instead of letting it escape.
-
12. Выберите правильный ответ.
What will probably happen to an unripe banana kept beside a ripe one?
Ripe bananas release a gas that helps nearby bananas ripen.
- It will stop ripening.
- It will return to a greener stage.
- It will ripen faster.
Show solution
- It will ripen faster.
Apples and pears also respond to this gas. Keeping ripe and unripe fruit apart can help slow ripening.
-
13. Выберите правильный ответ.
Which peas are likely to keep the most vitamin C?
Peas can lose vitamin C if they are kept in a warm place for a long time. Freezing them soon after picking slows this loss.
- Peas frozen soon after picking
- Peas left in a warm room for several days
- Peas kept warm for several days before freezing
Consider what happens before the peas reach the freezer.
Show solution
- Peas frozen soon after picking
Frozen does not always mean less nutritious. Storage time and temperature matter too.
-
14. Выберите правильный ответ.
Why does cooked pineapple work better in a gelatin dessert?
Fresh pineapple has an enzyme that breaks down proteins. Gelatin is a protein that makes some desserts firm. Cooking pineapple stops this enzyme from working.
- Cooking turns the pineapple's sugar into gelatin.
- Its enzyme no longer breaks down the gelatin.
- Cooking removes all the liquid from the pineapple.
Connect the enzyme's effect with what gelatin is made of.
Show solution
- Its enzyme no longer breaks down the gelatin.
Canned pineapple has already been heated, so it usually works better with gelatin than fresh pineapple.
-
15. Выберите правильный ответ.
Which of these ingredients can help your body absorb lycopene from tomatoes?
Tomatoes contain lycopene, a substance that gives them their red color. Your body absorbs it better when you eat it with some fat.
- Plain water
- Table salt
- Olive oil
Think about which ingredient contains fat.
Show solution
- Olive oil
Cooking can also make lycopene easier to absorb by breaking down some of the tomato's structure.