Fermentation : Definition & Introduction
The chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms, typically involving effervescence and the giving off of heat.
"the fermentation of organic matter by microorganisms in the gut"
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen.
The science of fermentation is known as zymology.
In microorganisms, fermentation is the primary means of producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by the degradation of organic nutrients anaerobically.[2] Humans have used fermentation to produce foodstuffs and beverages since the Neolithic age. For example, fermentation is used for preservation in a process that produces lactic acid found in such sour foods as pickled cucumbers, kombucha, kimchi, and yogurt, as well as for producing alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer. Fermentation also occurs within the gastrointestinal tracts of all animals, including humans.
The word "ferment" is derived from the Latin verb fervere, which means to boil.it is all about in etymology.
Fermentation, chemical process by which molecules such as glucose are broken down anaerobically. More broadly, fermentation is the foaming that occurs during the manufacture of wine and beer, a process at least 10,000 years old. The frothing results from the evolution of carbon dioxide gas, though this was not recognized until the 17th century.
How Does Fermentation Work?
Microorganisms survive using carbohydrates (sugars, such as glucose) for energy and fuel.
Organic chemicals like adenosine triphosphate (ATP) deliver that energy to every part of a cell when needed.
Microbes generate ATP using respiration. Aerobic respiration, which requires oxygen, is the most efficient way to do that. Aerobic respiration begins with glycolysis, where glucose is converted into pyruvic acid. When there’s enough oxygen present, aerobic respiration occurs.
Fermentation is similar to anaerobic respiration—the kind that takes place when there isn’t enough oxygen present. However, fermentation leads to the production of different organic molecules like lactic acid, which also leads to ATP, unlike respiration, which uses pyruvic acid.
Depending upon environmental conditions, individual cells and microbes have the ability to switch between the two different modes of energy production.
Organisms commonly obtain energy anaerobically through fermentation, but some systems use sulfate as the final electron acceptor in the electron transport chain.
Fermentation is all down to the actions of tiny natural microbes, who colonize and cultivate everything from our digestive systems, to this colorful spring in Yellowstone seen in the picture above, to the food and drink we eat.
Microbes use carbohydrates (sugars, such as glucose) for energy to fuel their survival. To make use of that energy, organic chemicals like adenosine triphosphate (ATP) deliver it when needed to every part of a cell.
Microbes - and our own body cells - use respiration to generate ATP. The most efficient way for them to do that is through a process known as aerobic respiration, which requires oxygen.
Aerobic respiration starts with glycolysis, where glucose is converted into pyruvic acid. Then, when there's enough oxygen around, aerobic respiration takes place.
Fermentation is similar to the kind of respiration that takes place when there isn't enough oxygen present, namely anaerobic respiration. However unlike respiration, which uses pyruvic acid, fermentation leads to the production of different organic molecules like lactic acid, which also leads to ATP.
What are three types of fermentation?
Lactic acid fermentation
Lactic acid fermentation is a metabolic process by which glucose and other six-carbon sugars (also, disaccharides of six-carbon sugars, e.g. sucrose or lactose) are converted into cellular energy and the metabolite lactate, which is lactic acid in solution.
Yeast strains and bacteria convert starches or sugars into lactic acid, requiring no heat in preparation. These anaerobic chemical reactions, pyruvic acid uses nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide + hydrogen (NADH) to form lactic acid and NAD+. (Lactic acid fermentation also occurs in human muscle cells. During strenuous activity, muscles can expend adenosine triphosphate (ATP) faster than oxygen can be supplied to muscle cells, resulting in lactic acid buildup and sore muscles. In this scenario, glycolysis, which breaks down a glucose molecule into two pyruvate molecules and doesn’t use oxygen, produces ATP.) Lactic acid bacteria are vital to producing and preserving inexpensive, wholesome foods, which is especially important in feeding impoverished populations. This method makes sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, yogurt, and sourdough bread.
Ethanol fermentation/alcohol fermentation
Yeasts break pyruvate molecules—the output of the metabolism of glucose (C6H12O6) known as glycolysis—in starches or sugars down into alcohol and carbon dioxide molecules. Alcoholic fermentation produces wine and beer.
Ethanol fermentation, also called alcoholic fermentation, is a biological process which converts sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products.
Acetic acid fermentation
Starches and sugars from grains and fruit ferment into sour tasting vinegar and condiments. Examples include apple cider vinegar, wine vinegar, and kombucha
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