[Katie]

I am trying to embed slices of fruit and vegetables in crystal resin.  I would like to know what chemical I can use to preserve the fruit/vegetables in before embedding so that it doesn't decay or react with the resin.  Can anyone suggest anything?  Thank you so much. 

[Fleaker]

Have you tried simply immersing it in acrylic resin? I imagine the chief issue won't be from typical chemical oxidative decomposition, but rather from photodecomposition.

Perhaps you might try dessicating/freezedrying the samples first (in a vacuum), presuming it won't affect their appearance too much?

EDIT: This is a hipshot--perhaps try putting water glass (sodium silicate) onto the material and then exposing to CO2 from dry ice.

[billnotgatez]

I chatted about your question with someone in the food-processing field.

We both agreed that you have to make sure you do not trap any microorganisms when you do this.
Also you might not want to have as much water in the specimen when you do this.

They thought that maybe using a citric acid bath followed by a dunking in a high concentration sugar solution might set up the specimen so that it is preserved. Make sure you do this sterile.

 

[Katie]

Thank you so much for your replies.  I will get straight onto it and let you know the outcome.

[billnotgatez]

The method I mentioned was derived from standard preservation protocol. You might look into those methods.

The sugar bath part removes water without desecrating the food, but there are limits there as well.