Fermentation (food)

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Beer fermenting at a brewery Fermentation in food processing typically is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. A more restricted definition of fermentation is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol. The science of fermentation is known as zymurgy. Fermentation usually implies that the action of microorganisms is desirable, and the process is used to produce alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer, and cider. Fermentation is also employed in the leavening of bread, and for preservation techniques to create lactic acid in sour foods such as sauerkraut, dry sausages, kimchi and yogurt, or vinegar (acetic acid) for use in pickling foods. See also: History of wine and History of beer Natural fermentation precedes human history. Since ancient times, however, humans have been controlling the fermentation process. The earliest evidence of winemaking dates from eight thousand years ago, in Georgia, in the Caucasus area.[1] Seven-thousand-year-old jars containing the remains of wine have been excavated in the Zagros Mountains in Iran, which are now on display at the University of Pennsylvania.[2] There is strong evidence that people were fermenting beverages in Babylon circa 5000 BC,[3] ancient Egypt circa 3150 BC,[4] pre-Hispanic Mexico circa 2000 BC,[3] and Sudan circa 1500 BC.[5] There is also evidence of leavened bread in ancient Egypt circa 1500 BC[6] and of milk fermentation in Babylon circa 3000 BC. French chemist Louis Pasteur was the first known zymologist, when in 1856 he connected yeast to fermentation. Pasteur originally defined fermentation as "respiration without air". Pasteur performed careful research and concluded;

"I am of the opinion that alcoholic fermentation never occurs without simultaneous organization, development and multiplication of cells.... If asked, in what consists the chemical act whereby the sugar is decomposed ... I am completely ignorant of it."

Contents
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1 Contributions to biochemistry 2 Uses 3 Fermented foods by region 4 Fermented foods by type o 4.1 Bean-based o 4.2 Grain-based o 4.3 Vegetable-based o 4.4 Fruit-based o 4.5 Honey-based o 4.6 Dairy-based o 4.7 Fish-based o 4.8 Meat-based o 4.9 Tea-based 5 Risks of consuming fermented foods 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Contributions to biochemistry

Main articles: History of biochemistry and NADH#History When studying the fermentation of sugar to alcohol by yeast, Louis 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,"[7] he wrote. Nevertheless, it was known that yeast extracts 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,[8] by a yeast secretion that he termed zymase.[9] In 1907 he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research and discovery of "cell-free fermentation." One year prior, in 1906, ethanol fermentation studies led to the early discovery of NAD+.[10]

[edit] Uses

The primary benefit of fermentation is the conversion of sugars and other carbohydrates, e.g., converting juice into wine, grains into beer, carbohydrates into carbon dioxide to leaven bread, and sugars in vegetables into preservative organic acids. Food fermentation has been said to serve five main purposes:[11]

Enrichment of the diet through development of a diversity of flavors, aromas, and textures in food substrates Preservation of substantial amounts of food through lactic acid, alcohol, acetic acid and alkaline fermentations Biological enrichment of food substrates with protein, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, and vitamins Elimination of antinutrients A decrease in cooking times and fuel requirements

[edit] Fermented foods by region

Natt, a Japanese fermented soybean food

Worldwide: alcohol, wine, vinegar, olives, yogurt, bread, cheese Asia o East and Southeast Asia: amazake, asinan, atchara, bai-ming, belacan, burong mangga, com ruou, dalok, doenjang, douchi, jeruk, lambanog, kimchi, kombucha, leppet-so, narezushi, miang, miso, nata de coco, nata de pina, natto, naw-maidong, oncom, pak-siam-dong, paw-tsaynob, prahok, ruou nep, sake, seokbakji, soju, soy sauce, stinky tofu, szechwan cabbage, tai-tan tsoi, chiraki, tape, tempeh, totkal kimchi, yen tsai, zha cai o Central Asia: kumis (mare milk), kefir, shubat (camel milk) o South Asia: achar, appam, dosa, dhokla, dahi (yogurt), idli, kaanji, mixed pickle, u-to-nga, jaand (rice beer), sinki, tongba, panir Africa: fermented millet porridge, garri, hibiscus seed, hot pepper sauce, injera, lamoun makbouss, laxoox, mauoloh, msir, mslalla, oilseed, ogi, ogili, ogiri

Americas: chicha, elderberry wine, kombucha, pickling (pickled vegetables), sauerkraut, lupin seed, oilseed, chocolate, vanilla, tabasco, tibicos Middle East: kushuk, lamoun makbouss, mekhalel, torshi, boza Europe: rakfisk, sauerkraut, ogrek kiszony, surstrmming, mead, elderberry wine, salami, prosciutto, cultured milk products such as quark, kefir, filmjlk, crme frache, smetana, skyr. Oceania: poi, kaanga pirau (rotten corn), sago

[edit] Fermented foods by type

[edit] Bean-based
Cheonggukjang, doenjang, miso, natto, soy sauce, stinky tofu, tempeh, soybean paste, Beijing mung bean milk.

[edit] Grain-based

Batter made from Rice and Lentil (Vigna mungo) prepared and fermented for baking idlis and dosas Amazake, beer, bread, choujiu, gamju, injera, kvass, makgeolli, murri, ogi, sake, sikhye, sourdough, sowans, rice wine, malt whisky, grain whisky, vodka.

[edit] Vegetable-based
Kimchi, mixed pickle, sauerkraut, Indian pickle

[edit] Fruit-based

Wine, vinegar, cider, perry, brandy Fruit Enzyme

[edit] Honey-based
Mead, metheglin

[edit] Dairy-based
Cheese, kefir, kumis (mare milk), shubat (camel milk), cultured milk products such as quark, filmjlk, crme frache, smetana, skyr, yogurt

[edit] Fish-based
Bagoong, faseekh, fish sauce, Garum, Hkarl, jeotgal, rakfisk, shrimp paste, surstrmming, shidal

[edit] Meat-based
Jamn ibrico, Chorizo, Salami, pepperoni

[edit] Tea-based
Kombucha

[edit] Risks of consuming fermented foods

Alaska has witnessed a steady increase of cases of botulism since 1985.[12] It has more cases of botulism than any other state in the United States of America. This is caused by the traditional Eskimo practice of allowing animal products such as whole fish, fish heads, walrus, sea lion and whale flippers, beaver tails, seal oil, birds, etc., to ferment for an extended period of time before being consumed. The risk is exacerbated when a plastic container is used for this purpose instead of the old-fashioned method, a grass-lined hole, as the botulinum bacteria thrive in the anaerobic conditions created by the air-tight enclosure in plastic.[12] In a general sense, fermentation is the conversion of a carbohydrate such as sugar into an acid or an alcohol. More specifically, fermentation can refer to the use of yeast to change sugar into alcohol or the use of bacteria to create lactic acid in certain foods. Fermentation occurs naturally in many different foods given the right conditions, and humans have intentionally made use of it for many thousands of years. The earliest uses of fermentation were most likely to create alcoholic beverages such as mead, wine, and beer. These beverages may have been created as far back as 7,000 BCE in parts of the Middle East. The fermentation of foods such as milk and various vegetables probably happened sometime a few thousand years later, in both the Middle East and China. While the general

principle of fermentation is the same across all of these drinks and foods, the precise methods of achieving it, and the end results, differ. Beer is made by taking a grain, such as barley, wheat, or rye, germinating and drying it, and pulping it into a mash. This mash is then mixed with hot water, and some fermentation begins. After being further treated, the liquid is transferred to a fermentation vessel, where yeast is added to the mixture. This yeast eats the sugar present in the mash and converts it into carbon dioxide and alcohol. After a few weeks of fermentation and a further period of conditioning, the beer is ready to be filtered and consumed. Ads by Google From China,There is always a fermenter/fermentor for you www.blbio.com Tunnel Pasteurizers for Worldwide Brewing and Beverage Industries Barry-Wehmiller Company www.barry-wehmiller-company.com Talwalkars Kiloburner gives you great results. Log on to know more. Lose 8 kgs in 3 months Talwalkars.net The specialist for autom. Sampler for water and wastewater MAXX Watersampler www.maxx-gmbh.com Microbrewery Systems worldwide Planning & Pricelist of Supplies Beer making equipment www.brauhaus-austria.com Fermentors & bioeractors Wine is created using a similar method that also involves fermentation. Grapes are crushed to release the sugar-rich juices, which are then either transferred quickly away from the skins or left to rest for a time to absorb some of the flavor, tannins, and color of the skins. Yeast is then added, and the grape juice is allowed to ferment for a number of weeks, at which point it is moved to different containers and fermented at a slower rate, and eventually aged or bottled. Pickling foods, such as cucumbers, may be accomplished by submerging the vegetable one wants to pickle in a salty water solution with vinegar added. Over time, bacteria create the lactic acid that gives the food its distinctive flavor and helps to preserve it. Other foods can be pickled simply by packing them in dry salt and allowing a natural fermentation process to occur. Milk can also be cultured, and people have been using fermentation with dairy products for nearly 5,000 years. It is speculated that early fermented dairy, such as yogurt, was the result of a natural process of fermentation that occurred when the milk was cultured by bacteria that dwelt in skin sacks used to store dairy. Yogurt these days is made by adding a number of special bacteria, such as L. acidophilus and L. bulgaricus to milk and keeping it at the proper temperature. The bacteria begin converting the sugar in the dairy to lactic acid, eventually creating what we know as yogurt.