Fermentation Technology PDF

FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY Course Code: BIOTECH-3101 Credit Hours: 3 Semester: 5TH Dr. Umar Farooq Gohar TOPIC : HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF FERMENTATION Introduction Humanity has been fermenting food since the Neolithic age, long before people understood the science be...

FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY Course Code: BIOTECH-3101 Credit Hours: 3 Semester: 5TH Dr. Umar Farooq Gohar TOPIC : HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF FERMENTATION Introduction Humanity has been fermenting food since the Neolithic age, long before people understood the science behind the process. Louis Pasteur, French microbiologist, in 1857 showed that living organisms initiate fermentation. We now understand the process behind fermentation and how it makes our bread, cheese and wine taste better. Fermentation technology is the oldest of all biotechnological processes. Definition of Fermentation Fermentation is any metabolic process in which microorganisms' activity creates a desirable change in food and beverages. It may be increasing flavor, preserving, providing health benefits, or more. Microbiological Perspective Microbiologists consider fermentation as 'any process for the production of a product by means of mass culture of microorganisms'. Etymology The word "ferment" comes from the Latin verb "fervere", which means "to boil". Ironically, fermentation is possible without heat. Role of Microbes Fermentation or simply culturing, is all because of microbes. Microbes can be found everywhere on Earth, including the soil that grows our food, inside our stomach and also on the screen that you're looking at right now! While some play a role in causing diseases, many are good, playing a key role in our day-to-day activities, and are the reason for our existence.  Microbes form communities called cultures and colonize. As they start to convert naturally occurring sugars in the food into energy for themselves, microbes cause spontaneous fermentation in the surrounding food or beverage. During fermentation, these small organisms consume available biodegradable material - like the sugar - without the presence of oxygen. This process is known as anaerobic digestion. How Did Fermentation Start? There is no single line answer to this question. Nobody can state with certainty that this process started in one particular way, just like human evolution.  There might not be an exact record of how and where did fermentation start. However, historians have traced signs of human-induced fermentation dating back to as far as 6000 B.C. Fermentation is as old as humanity itself or even older. Some scholars say that the use of fermentation to make bread rise and to produce alcoholic beverages is as old as the development of agriculture itself, which almost dates back to 8000 BC. Prediction of onset of fermentation: It's likely that fermentation started spontaneously, due to action of some wild yeast or other microbe landing in a bowl of food, a jug of grape juice or might have been already present in some freshly milled grain. Then when the temperature became ideal, it brought about the process. Dairy Background Of fermentation It is considered that milk of camels, goats, sheep, and cattle were the first to be fermented. This highly perishable commodity was unintentionally fermented way back in 10,000 B.C. This is due to naturally occurring microflora present in milk. [In microbiology, collective bacteria and other microorganisms in a host are known as microflora. Milk provides a favourable environment for the growth of microorganisms. Yeasts, moulds and a broad spectrum of bacteria can grow in milk, particularly at temperatures above 160C]. There is a theory that yogurt was first produced in goat bags draped over the backs of camels in North Africa at temperatures of 40 0 C. These bags or pouches were made of stomachs of animals especially, goats. Due to the humid temperature the milk turned sour and the bacteria in the goat bag helped in forming of yogurt. So, whenever people carried milk in goat pouches, they were actually making yogurt from it! Historical Significance of Fermentation: One of the earliest records of fermentation dates back to 6000 B.C. in the Fertile Crescent. [A crescent-shaped area of fertile land in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and other countries. It was the center of the Neolithic development of agriculture and was once considered the "cradle of civilization."]. The use of fermentation, particularly for beverages, has existed since the Neolithic age. Ayurvedic wines as medicine are documented in the ancient Indian healing system of Ayurveda. Arishthas and Asavas are fermented juices, and herbs. Draksharishta, the name indicates grape wine. Fermented foods have a religious significance in Judaism and Christianity. The Baltic god Rugutis was worshiped as the agent of fermentation  Signature fermented food from cultures around the world: i) Kimchi from Korea. ii) Dosey from India. iii) Sauerkraut from Germany. Although not originating there. Fermented foods are also used in Eastern cultures for medicinal purposes. Links between fermented foods and health can be traced as far back as ancient Rome and China, and remain an area of great interest for researchers in modern times. Earliest evidence of fermentation: Earliest evidence of fermentation for food preservation anywhere in the world was discovered recently by archaeologists in the Scandinavian region of Southern Sweden. 2,00,000 fish bones were uncovered from the remains of a 9,000-year-old storage pit. Which dates back to 7,000 B.C. — Early Mesolithic age.  Salt wasn't used for this fermentation, instead barks ofpine and fat of Seals were used to acidify the fish and then were wrapped in skins of wild boar and buried in a pit covered with muddy soil; requiring cold temperatures for preservation, which was readily available in the region. This was a very skillful way of preserving food without using salt, and the scale of preservation too was huge. This hints at the beginning of food preservation and makes us think about the raging developmental changes that has taken place over the years. Timeline of Fermentation Around 8000 B.C. — Humans used fermentation to make bread and to produce primitive alcoholic beverage. 4000 BC to 1000 B.C. — Ancient Chinese dynasties, were using fermentation for producing other grain-based beverages like rice wine and also to treat skin infections using fermented soybean. 4000 B.C. — The Egyptians used yeast to make bread and wine. 1750 B.C. — Barley was fermented to beer by the Sumerians. 300 B.C. — The Chinese applied fermentation to preserve vegetables. 220 B.C. — Start of use of fermented tea to treat a variety of illnesses. Development of Understanding Fermentation Till Mid-17th Century: Fermentation was viewed as part of alchemy and considered a mystical process rather than a scientific one. 1659: Thomas Willis published a work on fermentation as a mechanism related to health and disease, leading to the misconception that fermentation of blood in the body causes fever and other diseases. Mid-17th Century: Van Helmont proposed that digestion, breathing, and other biological processes were carried out by a ferment. Key Discoveries: Van Helmont’s studies revealed that burning charcoal and fermenting grapes produced the same gas (CO₂), helping to shift fermentation from mysticism to the scientific realm.  1680 — The 'ferment' in wine were first physically observed by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, who found that they were yeast spores. Leeuwenhoek is now widely considered to be The First Microbiologist. Only after this observation the true scientific study of fermentation and yeast began. Sequencing of the yeast genome in 1996 concluded the biological study on yeasts and ultimately paved way for the ambitious Human Genome Project. 1781 — First attempt at artificially producing yeast was done by an English pharmacist, Thomas Henry. He did this by impregnating flour and water with C02 (then known as fixed air). This was arguably the beginnings of the biological engineering of yeast.  1789 — Lavoisier published the first account of the changes which occur chemically during fermentation using yeast. He was able to describe the transformation of sugar into ethanol and gas using a chemical equation. He was also the first person to postulate that the principle of conservation of mass also applied in chemical reactions. 1815 – Gay-Lussac revised the balance of Lavoisier’s equation, leading to the correct empirical equation for fermentation in the late 20th century which is still known as Gay-Lussac equation C6H1206 S 2C02 + 2CH3CH20H  1840 — Schwann's conclusion was that "Fermentation is the result of process occurring in living beings". He stated that sugar was converted to alcohol as part of an organic biological process based on the action of a living yeast; its presence was necessary for the process to occur. This was a strong evidence against the theory of spontaneous generation which was believed at that time. So, the development and understanding of fermentation has even helped in proving and disproving evolution theories. 1857 — Louis Pasteur referred to fermentation as "the result of life without air" and found that aeration inhibits fermentation. He said that "air has always been considered the enemy of wine" and can inhibit fermentation, this is still termed the Pasteur effect today. He found that lactic acid was a byproduct and was the reason why wines turned sour. He also led the development of pasteurization of milk and foods prone to spoilage. He is rightly regarded as France's greatest scientist.  1858 — Moritz Traube published experimental evidence finally suggesting that fermentation itself is a living process. He suggested that enzymes act as catalysts to activate the reaction, which is now accepted as the primary mechanism for enzyme-controlled reactions. 1907 — German chemist and zymologist demonstrated that enzymes in yeast cells and not the yeast cells itself causes fermentation. He showed that an enzyme, zymase, can be extracted from yeast cells and that it causes sugar to break up into carbon dioxide and alcohol. He was awarded the Nobel prize in chemistry in 1907. 1927 — Arthur Harden and Hans Euler-Chelpin determined exactly how enzymes cause fermentation. They managed to describe what happens in sugar fermentation and the action of fermentation enzymes using physical chemistry. This explanation led to the understanding of the important processes taking place in the muscles for the supply of energy. Won the Nobel prize for their work on fermentation in 1929. Present day Fermentation is used to produce chemicals, medicines such as antibiotics and acholic beverages in an industrial scale, as well as to make bread rise and to preserve many types of food. Fermentation processes are used today in many modern biotech organizations for the production of enzymes to be used in pharmaceutical processes, environmental remediation, and other industrial processes. After all of this...it would seem that fermentation has been on a wild ride over the course of human knowledge, mostly misunderstood and blamed for processes far grander and more mystic than its simple and humble yeasty origins. Development of popular product — Beer Apparatus for Fermentation Fermenters are the vessels or the tanks in which fermentation is carried out. Fermenter or simply a fermentation vessel can be anything. It can be a simple steel vessel used in homes to prepare a batter for idli or dosey, because fermentation can be brought about anywhere in whatever condition, it can be brought about in a large sophisticated tank made of non-corrosive material which has a capacity of more than thousand litres. We know how 'we' ferment and how the big industries ferment. This clearly shows how humans have mastered the art of fermentation and can now ferment at any scale of choice. Evolution of Fermentation Vessels 8,000 B.C. — The first fermentation vessel was likely made of clay, known as terracotta. Earthenware is still widely used in the 21st century because it is heatproof and coldproof, making it suitable for cooking, freezing, and serving. 7,000 B.C. — Skins of wild boars and seals acted as fermentation vessels for people living in the Scandinavian region. Fish were acidified and later wrapped in the skins, leading to fermentation and aiding in preservation when buried underground. 1,250 - 1,000 B.C. — Tightly lidded bronze vessels were used by the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties of China. They fermented rice and millet in these bronze vessels to form wine. These vessels were excavated from elite burials of high-ranking individuals. The most interesting thing to note here is that the archaeologists discovered these bronze vessels with liquid still inside it, intact, even after 3,000+ years ! This is because the tightly fitted seals corroded with time creating a hermetic seal [any type of sealing that makes a given object air tight preventing the passage of air, oxygen, or other gases]. 800 - 600 B.C. — Amphoras pottery was used to bring about fermentation. Mainly used for fermenting wine and also storing and transporting. 57 B.C. - 935 A.D. — Brown ceramic pots called onggi was developed to ferment vegetables. Present-day national food of both North & South Korea — Kimchi was developed during this period because of prevalence of Buddhism which inspired vegetarianism. Advancements in Fermentation Techniques 1910s: By now, fermentation techniques were being used worldwide by different cultures. People began to gain a clearer understanding of the science behind the process. There was no significant development in how fermentation was conducted until this time, but it became evident that fermentation could be applied in various fields for greater benefit. During WWI: Chaim Weizmann, a Russian-born scientist who later became the first President of Israel, developed a fermenter for the industrial production of acetone. The importance of maintaining aseptic conditions was recognized, and the design and construction of pipes, joints, and valves became crucial. This advancement helped maintain a sterile environment and allowed handlers greater control over what went into the fermentation vessel.  1930s — de Becze and Liebmann used the first big capacity (above 201) fermenter for the production of yeast. This was the first aerobic fermenter used, in central Europe, for the production of compressed yeast [Compressed yeast is a fresh yeast from which most of its water was removed, and compressed into small blocks. Today this yeast is the most common form of commercial baker's yeast - Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is used by baking professionals]. This fermenter consisted of a large cylindrical tank with air introduced at the base via a network of perforated pipes. Later it was modified to have mechanical impellers to increase the rate of mixing, and to break up and disperse the air bubbles. This led to the requirement of compressed air [Compressed air is an important medium for transfer of energy in industrial processes, and is used for power tools. It produces air at higher pressures and typically at lower volume]. Today oxygen is supplied to aerobic fermenters via blower and compressor systems.  1934 — Strauch and Schmidt of Germany patented a system in which the aeration tubes were introduced with water and steam for cleaning and sterilization. 1944 — Submerged culture fermentation (SmF) technique for Penicillin production was used. [A method for growing pure cultures of aerobic bacteria in which microorganisms are incubated in a liquid medium subjected to continuous, vigorous agitation]. On March l, 1944, Pfizer opened the first commercial plant for large-scale production of penicillin by submerged culture in Brooklyn, New York. Here aseptic conditions, good aeration and agitation were essential. This probably led to the development of carefully designed and purpose-built fermenters. Modern Fermentation Practices: Present Day: In today’s world, fermentation is commonly practiced in households globally to produce ready-to-eat foods like curd using simple steel or plastic vessels. Airtight glass jars marketed as "fermentation jars" are also available for domestic use, catering to families. The strains of microbes that enter these jars are random, leading to diverse fermentation products. Industrial Scale: Billion-dollar businesses are built around this simple phenomenon. Industries apply fermentation on a larger and highly controlled scale, with the ability to control temperature and pH at the touch of a button. Historical Progress: Fermentation has come a long way since its unexpected discovery by our ancestors and has been on a continuous developmental track.