Salts and sugars work to preserve foods by creating a:

• A. neutral pH that inhibits microbial growth
• B. hypertonic environment that causes microbial cells to lose water
• C. hypotonic environment that causes microbial cells to swell
• D. source of nutrients that supports microbial growth

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the role of salts and sugars in food preservation: they affect the water availability around microbial cells.
2. Recall the concept of osmotic pressure and how solute concentration outside the cell influences water movement across the microbial cell membrane.
3. Recognize that a hypertonic environment has a higher solute concentration outside the cell than inside, causing water to move out of the microbial cells.
4. Understand that when microbial cells lose water due to this osmotic effect, they undergo plasmolysis, which inhibits their growth and reproduction.
5. Conclude that salts and sugars preserve food by creating a hypertonic environment that causes microbial cells to lose water, thereby preventing spoilage.