Taylor M. found that placing her "eggsperiment" in Karo Syrup drew a significant amount of water out of the egg (the circumference changed from 16.6 cm to 12.3 cm) because of the osmotic pressure gradient created by the syrup.
Taylor's eggsperiment shows that creating osmotic pressure with salt, brine, or sugar solutions was an effective method to remove water and slow the metabolism (growth) of microorganisms to preserve food before the widespread use of refrigeration in the modern era.
Read more about preserving food with osmosis at https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-salt-and-sugar-pre/#
