What exactly makes a carrot harder than an apple?

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Google says that carrots are roughly 87% water, while an apple is only 84%. Even the crunchiest apples are not nearly as hard as carrots. With similar water content what exactly makes one seemingly denser than the other?

In: Biology

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The most important difference resides in the difference in fiber, carrots fibers are mostly composed by cellulose which is rigid, while apples are composed by hemicellulose and pectine which are not as rigid.

While water fills an important part in rigidity, you must take into account how much of that water is Aw(available water) and how much is deeply embedded in the rest of the components.

Most of the fibers in apples are in its coating, while it is most equally distributed in carrots. That’s also why you feel more resistence in carrots.

Anonymous 0 Comments

For starters, ones a root vegetable, and one is a fruit. So, their structures are completely different for what they do. A carrot gives life to the Tops (leafy part above ground), where as the Apple is the product of the tree. Completely different use and storage of water. A carrot would naturally be more robust to store/carry nutrients and water through the plant.

An Apple, doesn’t support the tree. The tree may have less water than an Apple…bet you can’t bite through the tree…

Anonymous 0 Comments

The internal structure of the carrot is more fibrous, though. Probably the cell walls of the actual plant. Also, remember the part of carrots that people eat is a root, so it has to displace dirt to grow. Apples grow out in the air, so they don’t have to push outwards on anything(other than air) to form.