Fermentation Essay

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I. INTRODUCTION According to Rahman (2007), fermentation is one of the earliest ancient traditions developed by cultures all around the world to prolong the possible storage time of foods. Moreover, it is a process in which microorganisms alter the sensory and functional properties of a food in order to come up with a desirable product for the consumer. It is also the process by which the chemical changes are brought about in an organic substrate or organic materials by means of the action of a biological catalyst known as enzyme. There are four basic principles applied to prevent or decrease the microorganisms from contaminating foods. These four basic principles are keeping the microorganisms out of the food, hindering the growth …show more content…

Alcoholic fermentation is done by yeast and some kinds of bacteria. The digestible carbohydrates such as simple sugars and starch were converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide by these microorganisms. Acetic acid fermentation occurs when the alcohol produced in the alcoholic fermentation is further converted into acetic acid, and carried out by an acid producing bacteria, whereas, lactic acid fermentation is carried out by the lactic acid bacteria to produce lactic acid which is responsible for the sour taste as well as for the improved microbiological stability and safety of the …show more content…

It was observed that the percentage titratable acidity increased, but not as higher as the value of treatment 1, because this treatment has already undergone alcoholic fermentation which was carried out by the added yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this treatment, sugar was used as the substrate, and yeast was used to produced alcohol and carbon dioxide. Alcohol hinders the growth and survival of the unwanted microorganisms, since it denatures their membrane. In addition, alcoholic fermentation is used in making alcoholic beverages such as beer and wine. According to Rahman (2007), with respect to oxygen supply, this treatment undergone anaerobic fermentation because of the dissimilation of carbohydrate happened in which oxygen is not involved, but rather other substances, aldehydes and pyruvic acid that served as a hydrogen acceptor. On the other hand, increase in the percentage titratable acidity happened due to the molecules of carbon dioxide which has already reacted with the water, forming carbonic acid that made the mixture more acidic compared to the treatment 1. This happened since carbonic acid is a weak acid that causes a slight drop in pH, thus, making the mixture more acidic. Nevertheless, carbon dioxide alone is not acidic (Pederson,

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