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RE: Fun with Fermentation

in #science6 years ago

Thanks for the short and sweet explanation of the anaerobic metabolic path—that was a nicely digestible dose of science!

Alcoholic beverages typically brewed with an air lock to keep oxygen out as CO2 bubbles out. Yeast are able to use the process you described to keep turning sugar into alcohol, but the bacteria that produce acids (vinegar) from alcohol are not.

Many fermented foods are produced with oxygen present, like sourdough bread, kombucha (vinegar), and kimchi/sauerkraut. Those all come from a mixed culture of bacteria and yeast.

Another surprisingly common example of fermented food is coffee. Like cacao, the beans are fermented, to a lesser or greater extent depending on processing, before being roasted and consumed. This partly accounts for why coffee has arguably the most complex flavors of any food, if it's not burnt!