making our food delicious!
By Becca
Smithers
Lots of our food and drink
are produced with the help of microorganisms!
These bacteria and fungi
break down sugars in food and drink and convert them to acids, gases, or alcohols.
This process is called
fermentation.
Fermented
Favourites
Do you enjoy the odd
chocolate bar?
Maybe a cheese sandwich?
A lovely yoghurt?
How about a cup of coffee,
beer, or wine?
These foods are all made
through the process of fermentation.
Different species of
bacteria and fungi are involved in fermentation depending on what sugars are
being broken down.
Bread, beer, and cheese are
all products of fermentation.
Lactic acid bacteria break
down sugars in milk to give us yoghurt and cheese.
Yeast, which is a fungus,
is used to make bread and many alcoholic drinks.
Cocoa is fermented by
lactic acid and acetic acid bacteria, breaking down the pulp surrounding the
beans, so that we can access the cocoa bean inside to make delicious chocolate.
Fermentation is a
traditional process of food preservation.
Before we had fridges, we
needed to find a way to keep food for a long time, and fermentation was a great
way to do this.
Pickling vegetables and
drying meats allow bacteria to begin breaking down the food but in a way that
accents the flavour and stops the food rotting.
Yeast cells under a
microscope. Each dash on the scale is one micrometre. 10 micrometres = 0.1
millimetres.
Beneficial
Bacteria
Bacteria tend to get a bad
reputation.
At the first sign of being
ill many people will rush off to get antibiotics, but this is hugely damaging
to the good bacteria in our bodies.
9 out of every 10 cells in
your body does not belong to you, it belongs to the microbes that live in and
on your body.
These microbes are not
harmful to us, in fact they help us to digest food and stay healthy in many
ways.
Fermentation of food and
drink products uses bacteria that are not harmful to us.
The good bacteria are used
to preserve the food and colonise the food enough so that the bad bacteria
causing rot and decay do not have a chance to take control!
Eating fermented foods can
help keep a balanced gut microbiome, which means that you have more good
bacteria in your gut than bad.
Fermented foods are
sometimes marketed as “probiotics”, meaning good bacteria!
How does
fermentation happen?
C6H12O6 → 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2
Glucose → ethanol + carbon
dioxide
The above is a basic
equation for fermentation.
A sugar breaks down into an
alcohol and a gas. Depending on the species of bacteria, different gases can be
produced such as hydrogen.
Fermentation needs cells to
in order for the process to work.
Bacteria and fungi are
perfect as they feed on glucose and sugar molecules and get rid of the
alcohols, gases, and acids.
There are a couple of
stages in the process of fermenting glucose.
The first stage is a
process called glycolysis, which literally means glucose degradation.
The glucose molecules are
broken down into smaller molecules called pyruvate.
If there is no oxygen present,
which means the conditions are anaerobic, the pyruvate molecules will ferment
in cells, releasing carbon dioxide and producing alcohol.
Pyruvate can also be
fermented to lactic acid, which is what happens in the human body when muscles
are working hard but do not have enough oxygen supply.
Glucose is broken down into
pyruvate for energy for the muscles, but the lack of oxygen means our cells
ferment pyruvate into lactic acid.
A build-up of lactic acid
in muscles results in cramps and muscle fatigue.
This is why athletes do
high intensity activity for short periods of time, to make sure their muscles
do not get too tired or damaged from long periods of anaerobic exercise.
Fermentation is a natural
process and has been part of human culture for a very long time.
Next time you enjoy a fermented food or drink, don’t forget about the marvellous microorganisms that helped make it.
Becca
is a biologist by nature (and by Bachelor’s degree!) but loves to explore and
communicate all aspects of science. In 2014 she completed her Master’s degree
in Science, Media and Communication where she developed her skills as a science
presenter and her understanding of science communication.
It is
so important for people of all abilities and backgrounds to feel involved in science,
and understand how it affects them as individuals. Becca’s aim as a science
communicator is to get people thinking about science and for them to realise
that it can be a hobby and interest, not just a subject at school.
Becca’s
favourite part about performing STEM shows is the reaction from the audience.
There is nothing more enjoyable than seeing a room full of people light up when
you demonstrate a fun experiment or teach them something they didn’t previously
know. Becca loves to share her enthusiasm for science, which she can do every
day by working for science made simple.
You can find out more about what we do, check out our excitingrange of shows, or sign up to our newsletter to keep updated on what we are up to!
Science
Made Simple has a passion for all
things science. We aim to share our enthusiasm by offering inspirational and
educational experiences that are tailor-made for schools, festivals, family and
adult audiences.
Our
mission is to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, to
engage the wider public with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)
as part of popular culture, and to help build bridges between researchers and
the public. We do this by training professional science communicators for high
quality science shows, through a variety of formats. These include live
presentations, demonstrations and street theatre. We also develop educational
materials and create accessible science media for a public audience
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