Chemical Reaction or Mold?

[NotBlaine]

Yesterday I made a whole wheat soda bread, though this time I added sunflower seeds.

The recipe is:

2c Whole Wheat flour
2c AP flour
1c Buttermilk
1 egg
Stick of butter
Baking powder, soda, sugar and salt.
50g sunflower seeds

All the ingredients are fresh (just opened the milk), and the bread was put in a zip lock bag after cooling. Looking at it today, all of the bread around the seeds has turned bright green. I used a bag of shelled, salted, Planters Sunflower Kernels.

I did eat a seed (I picked one out and ate it before seeing the discoloration in day light) and I didn't notice any off taste.

Can anyone drop some food science on this? A reaction between the buttermilk and seeds? Something from the preservatives in the seeds and the egg? Super fast growing mold?

Thanks!

[Channa]

According to Harold McGee, it's from a reaction between the sunflower seeds and the alkaline baking soda. It can happen when the balance of soda is off -- too much in the recipe, or not mixed in properly. Other foods that can change colour in the presence of soda are carrots, blueberries, and walnuts.

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/...

I've had it happen with carrot muffins. The carrot shreds looked mouldy, so I told everyone I had used part zucchini. :-)

[Ruth Lafler]

Thanks for the explanation -- I've had that happen with walnuts, and always wondered why.

[rworange]

Speaking of mold ... did you ever try this .... or do you still have it at home somewhere?
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/2876...

[NotBlaine]

Thanks!

I figured it was something like that. That's almost impossibly fast for a mold to grow, particularly when you consider it's isolated to the seeds... which I presume have been treated with preservatives.

I may try to neutralize by increasing the acidity of the dough next time. I'd worry about removing the baking soda since there's not that much to begin with.

[maria lorraine]

Good job on research, Channa. Thanks for the link.