Fermentation is a metabolic process during which carbohydrates are converted into

alcohol and carbon dioxide or other acids. Fermentation is an anaerobic process in

which energy is released from glucose without the need for oxygen. Many benefits
are attributed to fermentation. It preserves and enriches food, improves digestibility,
and enhances the taste and flavor of foods. Fermentation has the potential of
enhancing food safety by controlling the growth and multiplication of a number of
pathogens in foods. Fermentation systems may be liquid, known
as submerged and solid state. Most fermenters used in industry are of the submerged
type, because the submerged fermenter saves space and is more amenable to
engineering control and design.

Fermentation occurs in yeast cells, they obtain energy by converting sugar into
alcohol and acids. Bacteria are also involved in fermentation; they convert
carbohydrates into lactic acid. Yeasts are involved in both bread and alcohol
production. During alcohol production, fermentation yields beer, wine, and other
spirits. The carbon dioxide produced by yeast activity combines with the carbon
dioxide emitted in the Krebs cycle which results in the rise of bread.

Another use of fermentation is its ability to preserve foods for example, it produces
lactic acid in yogurt, and it is also used in the pickling of foods with vinegar.
Fermentation also occurs naturally and has been happening since before human
time. However recently fermentation has become the controlled process we know
it as today. The study of fermentation is known as zymology. In 1856 French
chemist Louis Pasteur became the first known zymologist, when he demonstrated
fermentation was caused by living cells. In 1860 he demonstrated that bacteria
cause souring in milk, it was previously thought this a simple chemical change. He
also successfully identified the role of microorganisms in food spoilage; this
resulted in the discovery of pasteurization. While he was investigating the
fermentation of sugar to alcohol by yeast, Louis Pasteur found that the
fermentation was caused by forces called ferments, which were inside the yeast
cells. The metabolising of glucose can occur in yeast cells by cellular respiration.
This can also occur in other cells. In the absence of oxygen, glycolysis occurs,
which results in the metabolising of glucose into pyruvic acid. This pyruvic acid is
then converted first to acetaldehyde and then to ethyl alcohol. The conversion of
energy to the yeast cell results in the production of two molecules usually produced
in glycolysis. This process is known as the crabtree effect.

Function of Fermentation
The main function of fermentation is to convert NADH back into the coenzyme
NAD+ so that it can be used again for glycolysis. During fermentation, an organic
electron acceptor (such as pyruvate or acetaldehyde) reacts with NADH to form
NAD+, generating products such as carbon dioxide and ethanol (ethanol
fermentation) or lactate (lactic acid fermentation) in the process.

Types of Fermentation
There are many types of fermentation that are distinguished by the end products
formed from pyruvate or its derivatives. The two fermentations most commonly
used by humans to produce commercial foods are ethanol fermentation (used in
beer and bread) and lactic acid fermentation (used to flavor and preserve dairy
and vegetables).

This figure depicts the processes of glycolysis and ethanol fermentation.

 In ethanol fermentation, the pyruvate produced through glycolysis is
converted to ethanol and carbon dioxide in two steps. First, the pyruvate
releases carbon dioxide to form a two-carbon compound called acetaldehyde.
Next, acetaldehyde is reduced by NADH to ethanol, thereby regenerating the
NAD+ for use in glycolysis. Overall, one molecule of glucose is converted into two
molecules of carbon dioxide and two molecules of ethanol. Ethanol fermentation
is typically performed by yeast, which is a unicellular fungus.

The following points highlight the eight main types of fermentations.

The types are:-
1. Batch Fermentation
2. Continuous Fermentation
3. Fed Batch Fermentation
4. Anaerobic Fermentation
5. Aerobic Fermentation
6. Surface Fermentations
7. Submerged Fermentations
8. Solid State Fermentation
There are three models of fermentation used in industrial applications they are

Batch, continuous and fed batch fermentations