Why does bread mold
There are quite a few misconceptions and ‘half-baked’ beliefs about molds. Whereas the general idea about mold is that it is a plant that grows by itself on bread, it actually is a fungus, just as mushrooms. A plant has the capability of making food for itself, but a fungus cannot do so. It depends upon the environment for its nutritional needs. Molds are not necessarily detestable entities, as they perform a function by breaking down the dead and waste organic matter present in our ecosystem. The Earth would run the risk of resembling a cesspool of squalor without the cleaning action of molds.
The sight of mold growing on bread does not appeal to humans, and that being the sole situation when there is close interaction amongst humans and molds, the reputation of the latter takes a setback. Molds present themselves as ugly black spots on breads. The black shade is characteristic of Rhizopus stolonifer, which is the most common form of bread mold. The Penicillium family of molds is made up the majority of those which find home on breads and bread products.
Spores of molds keep on floating in the air all around us, though our eyes fail to detect them most of the times. Obviously, all exposed and uncovered eatables are prone to mold spore attacks. If your loaf of bread happens to be the unlucky host to these spores, it is most probably going to develop the undesirable mold growth very soon. Spores release enzymes on to the bread surface. These enzymes start disintegrating the bread particles. Upon further growth, the spores develop into hyphae, which are root like entities. The hyphae incessantly grow, and become visible as mold growth. Grown hyphae release packets of spores into the air, thus initiating the whole cycle again.
Molds find warm and dark places quite suitable for growth. Such conditions are generally associated with the bread storage areas in homes. Consequently, the development of molds on bread is also an infrequent phenomenon. Prominent bread bakers use preservatives in their breads in order to inhibit mold growth.