Fermentation

•It is a process by which the living cell is able to obtain energy through the
breakdown of glucose and other simple sugar molecules without requiring
oxygen
OR
•Fermentation is the anaerobic oxidation of carbohydrates, in which enzymes,
elaborated by microorganism, breakdown carbohydrates into substances that
are less subject to undesirable microbial activity than the original material
OR
•Fermentation in food processing is the process of converting carbohydrates to
alcohol or organic acids using microorganisms yeasts or bacteria under
anaerobic conditions
 Fermentation
• In this process desirable microorganism are
promoted, in contrast to other preservation techniques
• The science of fermentation is called zyomology
• Optimum conditions of temperature, pH, oxygen,
nutrient and water supply are maintained to promote
their growth
 Fermented Food
• Fermented food are those which are subjected to action of
microorganism or enzymes to get desirable biochemical
changes and causes significant modification changes to food
• The result is a transformation of the original food into one
with organic acids and other compounds beneficial for health.
• Fermented foods have a unique flavor that is tangy, pungent,
and aromatic.
• There are dozens of fermented foods ranging from drinks to
side dishes.
 Fermented food vs GI tract
• Fermented foods have the ability to improve the
function of the gastrointestinal system.
• This improvement is due to the ability of fermented
foods to increase the amount of helpful bacteria in the
gut.
• These bacteria are able to digest food, fight off harmful
bacteria, and lessen symptoms of constipation and
diarrhea
 Names of Fermented Food

• Yoghurt
• Kefir: is a type of cultured dairy product. It’s made by adding kefir grains — which
are a combination of yeast and bacteria — to milk. This results in a thick, tangy
beverage with a taste that’s often compared to yogurt
•  Tempeh: is made from fermented soybeans that have been pressed into a compact
cake
• Kombucha: is a fermented tea that’s fizzy, tart, and flavorful. It’s made from
either green or black tea and offers these drinks’ potent health-promoting
properties.
• Kimchi: is a popular Korean side dish that’s usually made from fermented cabbage
or other fermented veggies like radishes.
• Saure Kraut: Sis a popular condiment consisting of shredded cabbage that has been
fermented by lactic acid bacteria
• Miso: is a common seasoning in Japanese cuisine. It’s made by fermenting soybeans
with salt and koji, a type of fungus.
 Types/Techniques of Fermentation
1. Alcoholic Fermentation
2. Acetic Fermentation
3. Lactic Fermentation
 1. Alcoholic Fermentation
• In this fermentation, sugars are converted into ethyl
alcohol and carbon dioxide
• C6H12O6 yeast 2C2H5OH + 2CO2
Glucose Ethyl alcohol + Carbon dioxide
• Mostly applied in the production of leavened bread and
alcoholic beverages
• Several yeasts can be used, but most commonly species of
genus Saccharomyces such as S. cerevisiae and S.
carlsbergensis
 Wine production
• Wines may be manufactured from any sugary
raw material.
• Fruits are commonly used for the purpose.
• Wines produced from grapes (Vitis species) are
regarded as the real wines.
• While those made from other fruits are called
fruit wines
 Wine production
1. Viticulture: cultivation of grapes
2. Harvesting : harvesting of grapes
3. Stemming: separation of stem from grapes and send to press
4. Crushing: press squeeze the broken grapes, and separate the juice from skin
5. Fermentation: sugar and acid react with yeast, process take place from 10 to 30 days to convert natural
sugar to alcohol
6. Draining: wine drained from vat and goes to barrel (free run wine), pulp retains 20 % of wine
7. Pressing: press wine is squeeze out from remaining pulp
8. Mixing: free run wine and press wine mix, to obtain desire balance
9. Clarification: stabilization of fermentation, remaining solids are removed
10.Aging: final step, clarified wine transfer to barrels or vats in which wine is allowed for
further mature and developed flavor
11.Bottling: sulphites are added and pasteurization is done
 Wine production
• The normal % of alcohol in wines varies from as low as 3 to
15 %
• While in distilled beverages (spirits) it may range from 40 to
50 %
• The keeping quality of alcoholic beverages depends upon the
% of ethyl alcohol
• Higher the alcohol content, longer the shelf life
 2. Acetic Fermentation
• Acetic acid bacteria (species of genera
Acetobacter and Acetomona) are capable of
oxidizing ethyl alcohol in to acetic acid and water
• C2H5OH Acetic acid bacteria CH3COOH + H2O
• Acetic acid is main component of vinegar, which has been used for
centuries as medicine, flavoring agent and preservative
• Many pickles are also partially preserved by using vinegar , while
others are prepared exclusively by immersing vegetables in
vinegar (onions, green chilies and cucumber)
 Vinegar Production
• Vinegar production two steps
1. Production of ethanol from sugar using yeast
2. Production of acetic acid(vinegar) from alcohol
using acetic acid bacteria
 The Orleans or Slow method for vinegar production
• Wooden barrels are laid on their sides. Bungholes are drilled into top side and
plugged with stoppers
• The fermented liquid (alcoholic substrate) is filled in special wooden barrels
via long necked funnel into bungholes
• This is inoculated with fresh vinegar (mother of vinegar) below the holes
• After about three months at 21-29C, about 1/3 is with drawn and fresh quantity
of fermented liquid is added.
• The freshly acetified vinegar is stored and aged for about 6 months to improve
its flavors and other characteristics
• Further clarified, bottled and pasteurized .
• Every month about 1/3 to ¼ th of the finished vinegar is withdrawn and cycle is
repeated
The Orleans or Slow method for vinegar production

• Advantages: gives fine quality of vinegar

• Disadvantages
 slow process
Costly
Long incubation period
Needs a lot of attention and checking
Loss of ethanol by evaporation due to open barrels
 Use of Vinegar
1. Cooking: used in food preparation, in particular in
picking process, also used as ingredient in sauce
making, used as condiment, as well as flavoring agent
2. Cleaning: often used as household cleaning agent, use
as effective cleaner for glass and stainless steel. It also
have strong antibacterial properties
3. Medical: small amount of vinegar added to food or
taken along with food help to reduce glycemic index of
carbohydrate food for people with or without diabetes
 3. Lactic fermentation
• It is by far the most widely used fermentation techniques based
on the number of fermented products available today
• Used in meat industry for special fermented sausages (salami)
• In dairy industry, in production of and preservation of sour milk
products such as yoghurt, acidophilus milk, butter milk etc and in
addition of sour cream , butter, all type cheeses
• Several F & V such as raw mangoes, olives, ripe limes,
cucumber, turnips, lettuce cabbage etc have been converted into
new products by activity of Lactic acid bacteria
 Lactic fermentation
• In this type of fermentation the organism utilize
sugars present in foods and convert into lactic
acid, via:
• C6H12O6 Lactic acid bacteria CH3CHCOOH + H2O
• The preservative features of lactic fermentation are due to the
conversion of sugary substrate present in food to lactic acid
• This lowers the pH and raises the acidity of food, thus prevent
the growth of most other bacteria
 Dairy industry
• In dairy industry, species of genera (Streptococcus, Lactobacillus)
and other are most often utilized to convert milk sugar to lactic acid.
• In yoghurt production, standardized and pasteurized milk is
inoculated with a culture containing Streptococcus thermophilus
and Lactobacillus bulgaricus
• The sugar in milk (lactose) is fermented in to acid( lactic acid) and
it causes to form curd
• Streptococcus thermophilus brings down the pH of the milk 5.5
and Lactobacillus bulgaricus converts lactose to lactic acid
• The two bacteria have mutually stimulating effect on one an other
 Meat industry
• Lactic fermentation in the production of
numerous meat products (sausage), is primarily
directed towards obtaining a low pH of 4 to 5.5
• Strains of Leuconostoc, Lactobacillius and
Pediococcus are employed for this purpose
 Changes in food as a result of fermentation

• During controlled fermentation the growth of

microorganisms resulting from the existence of a
favorable environment lead to breakdown of complex
components of food molecules into simpler ones
• The three major components in foods that are
metabolized by microorganism are the carbohydrates,
proteins and fats
 Changes in food as a result of fermentation
• When carbs or carbs like compounds are attacked by
microorganism, end product such as alcohol, organic
acids, aldehydes and ketones are released in environment.
• Since these compounds are only slightly more oxidized
than the original carbohydrates, they can yield energy on
further oxidation
• Thus human body can utilize them as instant source of
energy
 Changes in food as a result of fermentation
• Most foods from natural sources contain some % of
proteinaceous substance.
• The breakdown of proteinaceous material is called as
proteolysis
• Lipolysis is the terms that describe the breakdown of fatty
material
• Both proteolytic and lipolytic reactions usually produce off
odours in the product depending upon the degree of change
 Changes in food as a result of fermentation
• In fermentation the activities of proteolytic and
lipolytic microorganism are controlled and only
beneficial fermentative organism are encouraged to
produce the desirable effect in food material
• During the growth of microorganism several vitamins
and amino acids are also synthesized so that the
fermented product usually has an increased nutritive
value than the original