Alcoholic Fermentation Gives Us More Than Alcoholic Drinks.

When you think of fermentation, you may think of alcoholic drinks since a part of their production involves the fermenting of sugars into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. Although alcoholic fermentation is usually our first thought concerning fermenting, bread making also uses fermentation although the alcohol content is very small and usually evaporates during the baking process. Another important use of the idea of fermentation is in the production of various cheese products.

In alcoholic fermentation, glucose is transformed into alcohol, water, and carbon dioxide, while energy is produced. Yeast is involved in this transformation which results in alcohol. Yeast is a form of plant life. Although it is plant life, yeast cannot perform photosynthesis to produce its own food. This process is actually a form of decomposition of the original sugary substance. During this process, one important element is the absence of oxygen.

Fermentation was happening before mankind was aware of it. After learning about the fermentation of natural fruits, man began playing with the idea of fermenting for the creation of beer, wines and other alcoholic drinks as well as the production of vinegar. Fermentation was found to produce some valuable nutrients in foods as well as being useful for the preservation of some food products. An example of the latter is the use of fermentation for the pickling of cucumbers or red beets.

Early mankind had a quantity of errors in their understanding of fermentation. They had the idea that some foods were simply immature and would become fermented after they matured to a greater extent. Even Aristotle believed that grape juice was immature wine that would improve with a degree of fermentation.

Some people see fermentation as an equivalent to the rotting which naturally occurs in organic matter. Thus, alcohol fermentation can be viewed either as a positive or as a negative force.

Eating or drinking of fermented food products is not without risk. Some groups of people have had problems with botulism because of improper alcohol fermentation processes. Allowing fermenting foods to continue fermenting for prolonged amounts of time can bring about botulism. Also, when fermenting is done in plastic containers, the danger is increased.

Inside the bodies of many animals, lactic fermentation is taking place. This is a part of the natural production of energy for work, especially more strenuous work when muscles need more oxygen more quickly than the blood can supply.

It is clear that higher degrees of sugars in foods make alcoholic fermentation more likely to happen. High amounts of sugar and low amounts of oxygen are conducive to success in the fermentation process.

Of course, when mankind learned of the effects of drinking alcohol, fermentation became a much more desirable trade to learn. The numbing effect and ability to forget one’s problems made the use of alcoholic drinks quite popular. Although misused to a great degree, fermentation has added considerable blessings to our lives. The bread, the cheese and the use of pickling techniques have made our lives fuller and more pleasant.