Carmen de Cardenas Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I found this inside a bottle of lemon juice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strange Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 (edited) Could it be this?Nostoc commune - A Cyanobacteria (Cyanobacteria Images)Blue-green algae, recognition and eradication (Though I don't know how it got into a lemonade bottle...) Edit: Or Wood Ear Fungus? (but I don't know how that would get into the lemonade either!) Edited January 9, 2014 by Strange 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pears Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 What is the texture like? Does it come apart easily when you pull it? Does it have a particular smell (other than lemon juice ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmen de Cardenas Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 Could it be this? Nostoc commune - A Cyanobacteria (Cyanobacteria Images) Blue-green algae, recognition and eradication (Though I don't know how it got into a lemonade bottle...) Edit: Or Wood Ear Fungus? (but I don't know how that would get into the lemonade either!) Many thanks! I'm still trying to figure out what kind of "monster" could be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 The photo where you have it on the end of a knife makes it look like wet cardboard, but that would be easily identifiable. As pears asked, what's the texture? Are you convinced it's a plant? I've heard that coral reefs can be plagued by algae when the water gets too acidic, but I wouldn't have suspected it could grow in lemon juice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arc Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) I think it looks like a peel that may have been somehow relocated farther down the production line, probably, unfortunately, on purpose if this facility is anything modern. Was this some kind of organic brand, a smaller regional operation? +1 on the pics by the way, how did you take the micro's? Edited January 10, 2014 by arc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringJunky Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 arc, on 10 Jan 2014 - 03:24 AM, said:I think it looks like a peel that may have been somehow relocated farther down the production line, probably, unfortunately, on purpose if this facility is anything modern. Was this some kind of organic brand, a smaller regional operation? +1 on the pics by the way, how did you take the micro's? I think this is the most likely answer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmen de Cardenas Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 It's all wrinkled and it comes apart easily when I pull it. One side is pale and whitish and the other side is dark. The smell is bad but not so strong.I took the pics putting the camera on the eyepieces of the microscope... quite exasperating but was the only way! Thanks everybody for the answers 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharonY Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Fungus growing on some peel? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringJunky Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Carmen de Cardenas, on 10 Jan 2014 - 10:33 AM, said:I took the pics putting the camera on the eyepieces of the microscope... quite exasperating but was the only way! Thanks everybody for the answers Very Heath Robinson then. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmen de Cardenas Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 Very Heath Robinson then. Well done. ahahaha exactly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fresh Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) Fungus growing on some peel? fungus is almost everywhere, why not on peel ? Go to peel an apple, wait and see....but i am not sure lemon juice accelerates the growth of fungus. ... Edited January 10, 2014 by fresh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringJunky Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 fresh, on 10 Jan 2014 - 12:59 PM, said:fungus is almost everywhere, why not on peel ? Go to peel an apple, wait and see....but i am not sure lemon juice accelerates the growth of fungus. ... I think you misinterpreted CharonY. It was an answer posed in the form of a question, rather than a direct statement. It leaves open an element of doubt. StringJunky: What is my name? Fresh: StringJunky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fresh Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) I think you misinterpreted CharonY. It was an answer posed in the form of a question, rather than a direct statement. It leaves open an element of doubt. StringJunky: What is my name? Fresh: StringJunky? thanks for your explanation. By the way, could lemon juice/ cider/other fruit acid accelerate the growth of fungus ? Edited January 10, 2014 by fresh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharonY Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Accelerate over what? As the far as sole medium juice has the advantage of being usually quite rich in sugars and other nutrients, however it also has a low pH which inhibits growth for many microbes. So the acidity itself is more inhibitory than anything. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fresh Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 ok,it makes sense to me that acid inhibits the growth of fungus/bacteria. Chemically, what is the tar-like thing on peel ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Accelerate over what? As the far as sole medium juice has the advantage of being usually quite rich in sugars and other nutrients, however it also has a low pH which inhibits growth for many microbes. So the acidity itself is more inhibitory than anything. That's what I was thinking, but couldn't rule out algae since it seems to like acidic waters. I agree that arc's explanation seems best supported. Whitish on one side, darker on the other sounds like a part of the peel that's accidentally gotten processed into the bottle. Much more likely than some kind of growth. I'd contact the manufacturer. In these days of instant social media, they'd probably send you a case of lemon juice to keep you from publicly complaining. And you'd be doing all their customers a favor by pointing out a possible glitch in their processing line. Chemically, what is the tar-like thing on peel ? I'm going to venture that it's some kind of grease or melted rubber from the bottling conveyor line. If it's a lemon peel that got caught in the bottling process, it might have come in contact with some of the machinery. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fresh Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Accelerate over what? As the far as sole medium juice has the advantage of being usually quite rich in sugars and other nutrients, however it also has a low pH which inhibits growth for many microbes. So the acidity itself is more inhibitory than anything. You got another +1, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmen de Cardenas Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 I'd contact the manufacturer. In these days of instant social media, they'd probably send you a case of lemon juice to keep you from publicly complaining. Well, if they send me a case of lemon juice I'll send the case back to them. I was terrified when I found that thing . I was with friends and all of us drank the juice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 Well, if they send me a case of lemon juice I'll send the case back to them. I was terrified when I found that thing . I was with friends and all of us drank the juice... Oh, that's completely different! I didn't realize you drank some without knowing! That's worth a LOT more than a free case of product. I'd go for a cash settlement if I was feeling litigious (which I rarely do). If they offer you a car, don't take it. It would probably be... no, I can't do it, I can't say it. Some puns are just too bad. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel123456 Posted January 10, 2014 Share Posted January 10, 2014 It is not the only one. I found this: http://curezone.com/ig///i.asp?i=50240 Unexplained. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arc Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 (edited) It is not the only one. I found this: http://curezone.com/ig///i.asp?i=50240 Unexplained. I had a nice 60+ km drive this morning so I spent a little time thinking on this, I saw michel's post during lunch and it matched up pretty well with what I came up with. I now withdraw my earlier conclusion. These modern food processing plants are really well designed to avoid anything but the most determined intentional tampering. Automated detection is used throughout so the odds are pretty low that accidental contamination by foreign objects could occur. I think it is due to improper packaging and maybe pasteurizing. I'm going to assume this juice has pulp. I would also guess it was pasteurized and instructed the buyer to refrigerate after opening and maybe even shake before using. I had thought the juice may have been opened and partially used before being allowed to sit at room temperature, giving ample opportunity for the pulp to culture mold within the new atmosphere now inside the warming container of juice. But michel's link had showed that the particular example had never been opened. The containers look similar so the contamination is probably related to defective packaging that allowed air to enter or again improper pasteurizing. The pulp would float like a raft, the top of it molding in the air as the bottom was exposed to the acid. My guess is the black stuff was down and the white side was up. Carmen's sample had been opened and partially consumed, this would have lowered the fluid level down to where the container has a continually larger cross sectional area, increasing the pulps available surface area and thereby explaining the apparent greater quantity of contaminated matter. The raft would easily float out of the way to allow the juice below to pour out when container was tilted. Edited January 11, 2014 by arc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmen de Cardenas Posted January 11, 2014 Author Share Posted January 11, 2014 It is not the only one. I found this: http://curezone.com/ig///i.asp?i=50240 Unexplained. OH MY GOD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter BE cimp Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 I don't know, but this might help... http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/C107/m107bpfruitdis.html It could be some type of bacteria that eats plastic; you said the bottle looked chewed on. Or maybe someone was trying to smuggle foreign microbes, hidden inside of hundreds of lemon juice bottles, into our country as some sort of, biohazardes terrorist attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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