Humans have known the process of fermentation lactic acid for thousands of years, but it was only in recent times that we were able to comprehend the role of bacteria. Fermentation is a microbial process by which microbes break down organic compounds into simpler compounds with the production of energy. This process is helpful for us in various ways, including food, beverages, and other products as well as in the advancement of medical science.
The Diversity of Bacterial Fermentations in Food and Drink
Most food products and drinks that are close to our hearts represent the end product of fermentation carried out by bacteria. These include yogurt, cheese, sourdough bread, and beer. In the case of yogurt, lactose-a sugar present in milk-is converted into lactic acid by lactic acid bacteria, which, in turn, gives rise to the characteristic tang of yogurt and its thickened texture. Similarly, cheese is produced using different types of bacteria to produce different cheeses.
Sourdough bread uses wild yeast and bacteria to create a flavor and texture that is different from other breads. The production of beer uses yeast, which ferments sugars in malted grains and produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. Other strains of yeast and bacteria can also be employed to create other varieties of beers that have distinct flavors. Besides food and drinks, bacterial fermentation is also used in producing various products such as pharmaceuticals, fuel, and industrial chemicals.
Examples of Bacterial Fermentations in Nature
While it may sound odd that bacterial fermentations have wide applications outside the realm of the production of food and beverages, there is no life without such a fermentation; bacteria break down organic matters in the soil and have been observed fermenting sugars in animal guts. Such fermentation, for instance, helps in the digestion of tough plant material in ruminant cows by the breakdown done by bacterial fermentations within the animal gut.
Moreover, bacterial fermentation is accountable for the production of the very potent greenhouse gas methanol that leads to climate changes. Methane is an oxidizable gas produced as byproduct by certain bacterias which live in highly anoxic environments such as guts of termites. Here these bacteria break up the organic matter and hence lead to the release of methanogen.
How Microbes Make Our Products?
Bacteria are also utilized in the production of a plethora of other products, ranging from pharmaceuticals to biofuels and industrial chemicals. For example, penicillin is an antibiotic produced by a strain of the fungus Penicillium, which was initially isolated from a cantaloupe that had spoiled.
Biofuels, produced from renewable sources such as algae and plant waste, are made through bacterial fermentation. The bacteria break down the organic matter through the process of fermentation and produce biofuels such as ethanol and butanol, which can be used instead of gasoline and diesel, with less harm to the environment.
Antibiotics and Other Life-Saving Treatments
Such bacterial fermentation has allowed such massive strides in medicine, especially antibiotics. Antibiotics are drugs that treat infections by bacteria. They are produced in microorganisms. Such a discovery of antibiotics changed the face of medicine and saved many lives.
In addition to the production of antibiotics, bacterial fermentation is used for the production of many other life-saving drugs, including vaccines and insulin. Vaccines are prepared by growing the bacteria or virus in the laboratory and then made impotent or inactivated to be used as the vaccine.
More specifically, using bacterial fermentation in agriculture minimizes the negative environmental impact due to healthier soils, less chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and assisting in remediating contaminated soil and water.
In conclusion, the process of bacterial fermentation has been exploited by humans in food, drink, medicine, and other applications. Bacteria are involved in many natural processes, and we have barely scratched the surface of what we could learn from these microbes.