noguchisquared

Glazed pears http://www.food.com/recipe/glazed-pears-180402

Some math:

• 220 g avg pear* x 16 = 3520 g

• 3 TBSP juice/avg lemon* x 2 x 0.5 oz/TBSP x 28.3 g/oz = 85 g

• 2 TBSP butter x 14.8 mL/TBSP x 0.91 g/mL** = 27 g

• 4 TBSP butter x 14.8 mL/TBSP x 0.93 g/mL** = 55 g

3520 + 85 + 27 + 55 = 3687

3520/3687 = 95.5%

It is notable that this recipe is listed as a dessert on the reputable Food.com. I submit this revision to Dr. Shepherd's fruit limit hypothesis.

*per Google

**per aqua-calc.com

EDIT: After reviewing my research I ran into a question about the actual average weight of a pear. Another source said, "The size of pears varies from 60 grams (sugar pears) to well over 300 grams. The average weight is approximately 150 – 180 grams." -- Foodreference.com. With a revised weight of 165 g / pear the fruit content of the dish falls to 94%. The authors suggest this discrepancy of 1.5% is well within the original calculation based on the variation in pear weights. Further studies are necessary to test the limits of the fruit content, as the pear weight has significant effects in the findings.

EDIT2: All percentages are noted as weight percents.

Some assumptions:
Lemon Juice = 8% Citric Acid (C6H8O7) in Water
Brown Sugar = 100% Sucrose (C12H22O11)
Butter = 100% Oleic Acid (C18H34O2)

After a cursory review of the available literature (i.e. google), sufficient data on the bulk average elemental composition of pear fruit was unavailable. Suitable replacements (e.g. apples, quince) also turned up limited data.

With a pear elemental composition, including ash and water content, the mole percents of C, H, and O from the fruit in the dessert could be calculated, using the above assumption.

For more specific mole percents, the composition of the various sugars, lipids, cellulose, and other compounds for each ingredient would need to be further specified. The non-fruit ingredients do not contain significant cellulose, lignin, or pectin, and therefore compounds in these classes have mole percents approaching 100%.

EDIT: In other words, moles of what?

I think we've made a major breakthrough. Any singular fruit dish contain a mole fraction of 1 of the respective fruit. In a fruit dish with more the than one fruit, the overall fruit mole fraction will be between 0 and 1, while the mole fraction with respect to the individual fruits will be 1.

Great for academic writing as well!

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