FERMENTATION

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Fermentation is the breaking down of sugar molecules into simpler compounds to

produce substances that can be used in making chemical energy. Chemical energy,
typically in the form of ATP, is important as it drives various biological processes.

‘Any metabolic process that releases energy from a sugar or other organic
molecule, does not require oxygen or an electron transport system, and uses an
organic molecule as the final electron acceptor.’

In food processing, fermentation is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohol or

organic acids using microorganisms—yeasts or bacteria—under anaerobic
(oxygen-free) conditions. Fermentation usually implies that the action of
microorganisms is desired. Fermentation also occurs within the gastrointestinal
tracts of all animals, including humans.

The science of fermentation is known as zymology or zymurgy.

History of the use of fermentation:

The use of fermentation, particularly for beverages, has existed since the Neolithic
and has been documented dating from 7000–6600 BCE in Jiahu, China, 6000 BCE
in Georgia, 3150 BCE in ancient Egypt, 3000 BCE in Babylon, 2000 BCE in pre-
Hispanic Mexico, and 1500 BC in Sudan.

Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), during the 1850s and 1860s, showed that fermentation
is initiated by living organisms in a series of investigations. In 1857, Pasteur
showed that lactic acid fermentation is caused by living organisms. In 1860, he
demonstrated that bacteria cause souring in milk, a process formerly thought to be
merely a chemical change, and his work in identifying the role of microorganisms
in food spoilage led to the process of pasteurization. A German chemist Eduard
Buechner in 1897ground up yeast, extracted a juice from them, then found to his
amazement that this "dead" liquid would ferment a sugar solution, forming carbon
dioxide and alcohol much like living yeasts. Buechner's results are considered to
mark the birth of biochemistry. The "unorganized ferments" behaved just like the
organized ones. From that time on, the term enzyme came to be applied to all

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ferments. It was then understood that fermentation is caused by enzymes that are
produced by microorganisms. In 1907, Buechner won the Nobel Prize in chemistry
for his work.

Food fermentation has been said to serve five main purposes:

1. Enrichment of the diet through development of a diversity of flavors,

aromas, and textures in food substrates.
2. Preservation of substantial amounts of food through lactic acid, alcohol,
acetic acid, and alkaline fermentations.
3. Biological enrichment of food substrates with protein, essential amino acids,
essential fatty acids, and vitamins.
4. Elimination of antinutrients.
5. A decrease in cooking time and fuel requirement.

What kind of products we can have by fermentation ?

(1) Fermented foods have a longer shelf life than the original foods.

(2) The enhancement of organoleptic properties; for example, cheese has more
enhanced organoleptic properties in terms of taste than its raw substrate viz. milk.

(3) The removal of harmful/unwanted ingredients from raw materials—for

example, during garri preparation, there is a reduction in the poisonous cyanide
content of cassava, and the flatulence factors in soybeans are removed by
fermentation.

(4) The enhancement of nutritional properties due to the presence of fermenting

microorganisms. For example, yeast in bread and yeast and lactic acid bacteria in
garri add to its nutritive quality.

(5) The fermentation process reduces the cooking time of food. For example, West
African food, i.e., Ogi (prepared from fermented maize), and soybean products.

(6) The fermented products consist of higher in vitro antioxidant capacity. For
example, fermented milk and yogurt consist of higher antioxidant properties
compared to milk, as there is a release of biopeptides that follow the proteolysis of
milk proteins, particularly α-casein, α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin.
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Fermentation Technology:

Process of Fermentation:
Fermentation is an anaerobic biochemical process.
In fermentation, the first process is the same as cellular respiration, which is the
formation of pyruvic acid by glycolysis where net 2 ATP molecules are
synthesised.
In the next step, pyruvate is reduced to lactic acid, ethanol or other products. Here
NAD+ is formed which is re-utilized back in the glycolysis process.

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Types of Fermentation

 Homo fermentation: only one type of product formation.

 Hetero fermentation: more than one product formed.

On the basis of the end product formed, fermentation can be categorized as

follows:
1. Lactic Acid Fermentation
Occurs in bacteria. There are two forms of lactic acid fermentation:
(1) homolactic fermentation and (2) heterolactic fermentation. Homolactic
fermentation is when the endproduct is only lactate. When there are other
endproducts apart from lactate, for example, ethanol and carbon dioxide, it is a
heterolactic type. Nevertheless, both of them begin in glycolysis and ultimately
produce two pyruvates with each glucose molecule.
Lactic acid is formed from pyruvate produced in glycolysis. NAD+ is generated
from NADH. Enzyme lactate dehydrogenase catalyses this reaction. Lactobacillus
bacteria prepare curd from milk via this type of fermentation. During intense
exercise when oxygen supply is inadequate, muscles derive energy by producing
lactic acid, which gets accumulated in the cells causing fatigue.

Some products made by harnessing the principle of Lactic Acid Bacteria

fermentation includes:

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A. Pickle – It’s a product prepared by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation of
sugar present in pieces of fruits and vegetables. The prepared product is rich in
Lactic acid and only the beneficial bacteria that can tolerate lactic acid pH survive.
B. Sauerkraut – It is basically a finely cut cabbage that has been fermented by
various lactic acid bacteria. Sauerkraut usually has a long shelf life and a
distinctive sour flavor.
C. Yogurt – Yogurt is basically a fermented product prepared from milk. The main
method of producing yogurt is through the lactic acid fermentation of milk with
harmless bacteria. The primary bacteria used are typically Lactobacillus bulgaricus
and Streptococcus thermophiles.
D. Kimchi – It is basically a Korean dish. It is a staple food in Korean cuisine, is a
traditional side dish made from salted and fermented vegetables, most commonly
napa cabbage and Korean radishes, with a variety of seasonings including chili
powder, scallions, garlic, ginger, and jeotgal
2. Alcohol Fermentation
Occurs in yeast and some bacteria.
This is used in the industrial production of wine, beer, biofuel, etc. The end
product is alcohol and CO2. Pyruvic acid breaks down into acetaldehyde and
CO2 is released. In the next step, ethanol is formed from acetaldehyde. NAD+ is
also formed from NADH, utilized in glycolysis. Yeast and some bacteria carry out
this type of fermentation. Enzyme pyruvic acid decarboxylase and alcohol
dehydrogenase catalyse these reactions.
Glucose  2 pyruvate molecules  2 acetaldehyde and CO2 released 2ethanol

Yeasts (e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces) and certain

anaerobic bacteria (e.g. Zymomonas mobilis) are capable of ethanol fermentation.
These microscopic organisms are used by the food industry in making alcoholic
beverages and causing bread dough to rise. Certain fish groups (e.g. goldfish and
crucian carp) can also ferment and produce ethanol especially when their
environment becomes anoxic (oxygen-deficient).
3. Acetic acid Fermentation
Vinegar is produced by this process. This is a two-step process.

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The first step is the formation of ethyl alcohol from sugar anaerobically using
yeast.
In the second step, ethyl alcohol is further oxidized to form acetic acid using
acetobacter bacteria. Microbial oxidation of alcohol to acid is an aerobic process.

4. Butyric acid Fermentation

This type of fermentation is characteristic of obligate anaerobic bacteria of genus
clostridium. This occurs in retting of jute fibre, rancid butter, tobacco processing
and tanning of leather. Butyric acid is produced in the human colon as a product of
dietary fibre fermentation. It is an important source of energy for colorectal
epithelium.
Sugar is first oxidized to pyruvate by the process of glycolysis and then pyruvate is
further oxidized to form acetyl-CoA by the oxidoreductase enzyme system with the
production of H2 and CO2. Acetyl-CoA is further reduced to form butyric acid.
This type of fermentation leads to a relatively higher yield of energy. 3 molecules
of ATP are formed.

Advantages of Fermentation:

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Fermentation is suitable for all kinds of environments. It is one of the oldest
metabolic processes which is common to prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
Fermentation is widely used in various industries.
Using suitable microorganisms and specified conditions different kinds of products
are formed namely:-

 Wine
 Beer
 Biofuels
 Yoghurt

 Pickles
 Bread
 Sour foods containing lactic acid

 Certain antibiotics and vitamins

Fermentation can make food nutritious, digestible and flavoured. There are many
benefits of consuming fermented food.

 It improves digestion and helps to maintain intestinal bacteria

 It has an anti-cancer effect.
 Improves immune system
 Reduces lactose intolerance
Other than the food industry, there are many other areas where the fermentation
process is used. Methane is produced by fermentation in the sewage treatment
plants and freshwater sediments.

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 MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY ASSURANCE
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We all feel we know what is meant by quality and the difference between good
quality and poor quality. One dictionary defines quality as the degree of
excellence’ possessed by a product, that is to say how good it is at serving its
purpose.

In terms of the microbiology of foods, quality comprises three aspects:

(1) Safety. A food must not contain levels of a pathogen or its toxin likely to cause
illness when the food is consumed.

(2) Acceptability/shelf-life. A food must not contain levels of microorganisms

sufficient to render it organoleptically spoiled in an unacceptably short time.

(3) Consistency. A food must be of consistent quality both with respect to safety
and to shelf-life. The consumer will not accept products which display large batch-
to-batch variations in shelflife and is certainly not prepared to play Russian roulette
with illness every time he or she eats.

Three different types of microbiological criterion have been defined by The

International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF):

(1) A microbiological standard is a criterion specified in a law or regulation. It is

a legal requirement that foods must meet and is enforceable by the appropriate
regulatory agency.

(2) A microbiological specification is a criterion applied in commerce. It is a

contractual condition of acceptance that is applied by a purchaser attempting to
define the microbiological quality of a product or ingredient. Failure of the supplier
to meet the specification will result in rejection of the batch or a lower price.

(3) A microbiological guideline is used to monitor the microbiological

acceptability of a product or process. It differs from the standard and specification
in that it is more often advisory than mandatory.

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Micro-organisms are rarely distributed uniformly throughout a food, nor in fact are
they usually distributed randomly. When micro-organisms are dispersed in a food
material in the course of its production, some may die, some may be unable to
grow and others may find themselves in micro-environments in which they can
multiply.

The resulting distribution, containing aggregates of cells, is described as a

contagious distribution.

Fig. Possible types of distribution of microorganism in food.

Codes of Good Manufacturing Practice:

The features of control at source outlined above are often enshrined in official
regulations or codes of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). GMP is defined as
those procedures in a food-processing plant which consistently yield products of
acceptable microbiological quality suitably monitored by laboratory and in-line
tests.

A code of GMP must define details of the process that are necessary to achieve this
goal such as times, temperatures etc., details of equipment, plant layout,
disinfection (sanitation) and hygiene practices and laboratory tests.

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The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Concept:

In the food industry today approaches based on Good Manufacturing Practice are
being largely replaced by application of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
(HACCP) concept. This has improved on traditional practices by introducing a
more systematic, rule-based approach for applying our knowledge of food
microbiology to the control of microbiological quality. A HACCP study is best
conducted by a multidisciplinary team comprising a microbiologist, a process
supervisor, an engineer and a quality assurance manager, all of whom will be able
to bring their own particular expertise and experience to bear on the problem.

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