Fermentation

Fermentation technology is one of the oldest technologies employed in the food processing industry.

The term fermentation is derived from the Latin verb ‘fervere’, to boil, which describes the appearance of the action of yeast on extracts of fruits or malted grain during the production of alcoholic beverages.

In general it can be defined as the process of growing a culture of microorganisms in a nutrient medium at maintained physic-chemical conditions and thereby converting feed into desired end product.

Fermentation involves the breaking down of complex organic substance into smaller ones.

The microbial or animal cell obtains energy through glycolysis, splitting a sugar molecule and removing electrons from the molecules.

Fermented products encompass, but are not limited to wine, beer, vinegar, bread, soy sauce, sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled, olive, different fermented milk products, a large number of cheeses and a variety of sausages.

Many species of microorganisms are used for carrying out the process of fermentation to produce useful products. They include bacteria, fungi, algae and actinomycetes.

Several advantage of fermentation technology included:
*Produces value added and add variety to the human being’s diets.
*Preservation of the food.
*Food quality improvement through flavor development, nutrient enrichments.
*The food more nutritious.
*Detoxifies of foods

Today large numbers of chemicals are produced by fermentation technology with the advent genetic engineering and the developments in computer technology.
Fermentation