FERMENTATION IN FOOD PROCESSING (FIFP)
Fermentation in food processing is the process of
converting carbohydrates to alcohol or organic acids using
microorganisms—yeasts or bacteria—under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation
usually implies that the action of microorganisms is desired. The science of
fermentation is known as zymology or zymurgy.
The term fermentation sometimes refers specifically to
the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol, producing alcoholic drinks such
as wine, beer, and cider. However, similar processes take place in the
leavening of bread (CO2 produced by yeast activity), and in the preservation of
sour foods with the production of lactic acid, such as in sauerkraut and
yogurt.
Other widely consumed fermented foods include vinegar,
olives, and cheese. More localised foods prepared by fermentation may also be
based on beans, grain, vegetables, fruit, honey, dairy products, fish, meat, or
tea.
HISTORY AND
PREHISTORY
Natural fermentation precedes human history. Since
ancient times, humans have exploited the fermentation process. The earliest
evidence of an alcoholic drink, made from fruit, rice, and honey, dates from
7000 to 6600 BC, in the Neolithic Chinese village of Jiahu, and winemaking
dates from 6000 BC, in Georgia, in the Caucasus area. Seven-thousand-year-old
jars containing the remains of wine, now on display at the University of
Pennsylvania, were excavated in the Zagros Mountains in Iran. There is strong
evidence that people were fermenting alcoholic drinks in Babylon c. 3000 BC,
ancient Egypt c. 3150 BC, pre-Hispanic Mexico c. 2000 BC, and Sudan c. 1500 BC.
The French chemist Louis Pasteur founded zymology,
when in 1856 he connected yeast to fermentation. When studying the fermentation
of sugar to alcohol by yeast, Pasteur concluded that the fermentation was
catalyzed by a vital force, called "ferments", within the yeast
cells. The "ferments" were thought to function only within living
organisms. "Alcoholic fermentation is an act correlated with the life and
organization of the yeast cells, not with the death or putrefaction of the
cells", he wrote.
Nevertheless, it was known that yeast extracts can
ferment sugar even in the absence of living yeast cells. While studying this
process in 1897, Eduard Buchner of Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany,
found that sugar was fermented even when there were no living yeast cells in the
mixture, by an enzyme complex secreted by yeast that he termed zymase. In 1907
he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research and discovery of
"cell-free fermentation".
One year earlier, in 1906, ethanol fermentation
studies led to the early discovery of NAD+.
USES
Food fermentation is the conversion of sugars and
other carbohydrates into alcohol or preservative organic acids and carbon
dioxide. All three products have found human uses. The production of alcohol is
made use of when fruit juices are converted to wine, when grains are made into
beer, and when foods rich in starch, such as potatoes, are fermented and then
distilled to make spirits such as gin and vodka. The production of carbon
dioxide is used to leaven bread. The production of organic acids is exploited
to preserve and flavor vegetables and dairy products.
Food fermentation serves five main purposes: to enrich
the diet through development of a diversity of flavors, aromas, and textures in
food substrates; to preserve substantial amounts of food through lactic acid,
alcohol, acetic acid, and alkaline fermentations; to enrich food substrates
with protein, essential amino acids, and vitamins; to eliminate antinutrients;
and to reduce cooking time and the associated use of fuel. SEE MORE AT
Fermentation in food processing is the process of
converting carbohydrates to alcohol or organic acids using
microorganisms—yeasts or bacteria—under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation
usually implies that the action of microorganisms is desired. The science of
fermentation is known as zymology or zymurgy.
The term fermentation sometimes refers specifically to
the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol, producing alcoholic drinks such
as wine, beer, and cider. However, similar processes take place in the
leavening of bread (CO2 produced by yeast activity), and in the preservation of
sour foods with the production of lactic acid, such as in sauerkraut and
yogurt.
Other widely consumed fermented foods include vinegar,
olives, and cheese. More localised foods prepared by fermentation may also be
based on beans, grain, vegetables, fruit, honey, dairy products, fish, meat, or
tea.
HISTORY AND
PREHISTORY
Natural fermentation precedes human history. Since
ancient times, humans have exploited the fermentation process. The earliest
evidence of an alcoholic drink, made from fruit, rice, and honey, dates from
7000 to 6600 BC, in the Neolithic Chinese village of Jiahu, and winemaking
dates from 6000 BC, in Georgia, in the Caucasus area. Seven-thousand-year-old
jars containing the remains of wine, now on display at the University of
Pennsylvania, were excavated in the Zagros Mountains in Iran. There is strong
evidence that people were fermenting alcoholic drinks in Babylon c. 3000 BC,
ancient Egypt c. 3150 BC, pre-Hispanic Mexico c. 2000 BC, and Sudan c. 1500 BC.
The French chemist Louis Pasteur founded zymology,
when in 1856 he connected yeast to fermentation. When studying the fermentation
of sugar to alcohol by yeast, Pasteur concluded that the fermentation was
catalyzed by a vital force, called "ferments", within the yeast
cells. The "ferments" were thought to function only within living
organisms. "Alcoholic fermentation is an act correlated with the life and
organization of the yeast cells, not with the death or putrefaction of the
cells", he wrote.
Nevertheless, it was known that yeast extracts can
ferment sugar even in the absence of living yeast cells. While studying this
process in 1897, Eduard Buchner of Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany,
found that sugar was fermented even when there were no living yeast cells in the
mixture, by an enzyme complex secreted by yeast that he termed zymase. In 1907
he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research and discovery of
"cell-free fermentation".
One year earlier, in 1906, ethanol fermentation
studies led to the early discovery of NAD+.
USES
Food fermentation is the conversion of sugars and
other carbohydrates into alcohol or preservative organic acids and carbon
dioxide. All three products have found human uses. The production of alcohol is
made use of when fruit juices are converted to wine, when grains are made into
beer, and when foods rich in starch, such as potatoes, are fermented and then
distilled to make spirits such as gin and vodka. The production of carbon
dioxide is used to leaven bread. The production of organic acids is exploited
to preserve and flavor vegetables and dairy products.
Food fermentation serves five main purposes: to enrich
the diet through development of a diversity of flavors, aromas, and textures in
food substrates; to preserve substantial amounts of food through lactic acid,
alcohol, acetic acid, and alkaline fermentations; to enrich food substrates
with protein, essential amino acids, and vitamins; to eliminate antinutrients;
and to reduce cooking time and the associated use of fuel. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
