Fermentation as a Cooking Method
Fermentation is a metabolic process converting sugar to acids, gases. It occurs in yeast and bacteria but also in oxygen-starved human muscle cells.
Fermentation is the absence of the electron transport chain and takes a reduced carbon source, such as glucose, and makes products like lactic acid or acetate.
Fermentation has been used by humans for the production of food and beverages since the Neolithic. For example, fermentation is employed for preservation in a process that produces lactic acid as found in such sour foods as pickled cucumbers, kimchi and yogurt , as well as for producing alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer.
Fermentation is a form of anaerobic digestion that generates adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by the process of substrate-level phosphorylation. The energy for generating ATP comes from the oxidation of organic compounds, such as carbohydrates. In contrast, during respiration is where electrons are donated to an exogenous electron acceptor, such as oxygen, via an electron transport chain. Fermentation is important in anaerobic conditions when there is no oxidative phosphorylation to maintain the production of ATP.
