Food Fermentation: The Science of Cooking with Microbes

Fermentation for Everyone

Welcome to Food Fermentation: The Science of Cooking
with Microbes. We are excited that you've decided to join us.
This course is intended for both learners who are totally new to
the world of fermentation and those who are avid home
fermentors and excited to expand their knowledge.

As we start the course, we want to know - what are your top

three favorite fermented foods and/or beverages?

favorite fermentation products?

Tus palabras fueron:

● cheese 6%
● yogurt 7%
● soy sauce 0%

Timeline of Fermentation

Create a timeline of the history of fermented foods by dragging

and dropping each fermented food product with the time period in
which its use was first documented. Some of these foods - kui,
kimchi, fish sause, and bread - are mentioned in the video. For
the others, take your best guess and/or look up the answers on
the internet. This is just a small preview of all the fermented foods
you will learn about throught this course! Dont stress if this
material is totally new to you; for this question and many others,
you will be able to see the correct answer after just a few
attempts.

This timeline highlights the origins of just a handful of the

hundreds of fermented foods that humans have been preparing
for millennia. Throughout this course, you will learn more about
the history, science and preparation of unusual delicacies like
garum and modern favorites like coffee.
 Microbes in Health and Disease
Enunciados de nivel 2 podrían ser creados por
proveedores del curso en el futuro.
Marcar esta página
MICROBES IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Humans have a complicated relationship with microbes. We can
die as a consequence of being infected by some microbes, while
we depend on others for our well-being. We use sanitizer to
remove microbes from our hands, while taking probiotic
supplements to increase the presence of other microbes in our
guts. In this video, Pia and Roberto debunk the stigma of
microbes and reveal

Food for Energy

Microbes are just like us. But different.

Both microbes and humans break down glucose into two pyruvate
molecules through a process called glycolysis. Human cells, in the
presence of oxygen, then move those pyruvate molecules into the
mitochondria and break them down further into water, carbon
dioxide, and in the process make a lot of ATP, the energy
currency of the cell. This process is called respiration. In the
absence of oxygen, both humans and some bacteria turn
pyruvate into lactic acid. In alcoholic fermentation, yeast convert
pyruvate into ethanol/alcohol. If all these different metabolic
processes seem overwhelming, fear not! As you make different
fermented foods in this course’s labs, the microbes’ varied
metabolic processes will come to life - literally.

Respiration and Fermentation

Enunciados de nivel 2 podrían ser creados por
proveedores del curso en el futuro.
Food molecules are converted into energy through two distinct
processes: respiration and fermentation.

Respiration:

Respiration refers to the numerous chemical processes and

reactions that are involved in producing energy through the
complete oxidation of nutrients. Respiration requires oxygen
because the chemical reactions involved require oxygen to
happen. Because of this it is sometimes referred to as aerobic
respiration (from the Greek roots aero, "air," and bios, "life").

The first step of respiration is that the food is broken down into
simpler molecules (such as glucose). The final result of respiration
is that the cells convert the chemical energy in those molecules
and store it in the bonds of the ATP molecule (adenosine
triphosphate). ATP can then be used to provide energy to many
cellular processes.

The overall process goes as follows: First, glucose molecules

undergo a process called glycolysis. During glycolysis, glucose is
broken down into two pyruvate molecules. This step produces a
small number of ATP molecules - a net of four ATPs per glucose
molecule. After glycolysis, the pyruvate molecules undergo a
complex transformation through a series of reactions, with names
such as “pyruvate oxidation” and the “citric acid cycle” -- don’t
worry about these names, the point is that there are many
reactions. These processes produce carbon dioxide and the
energy-storage molecules NADH and FADH2. NADH and FADH2 are
similar to ATP in that they can store energy, but they are different
in how they store that energy.

Both pyruvate oxidation and the citric acid cycle occur inside
cellular structures called mitochondria -- these are sometimes
referred to as “the powerhouses of the cell” since they are
responsible for the cell’s energy generation. The last step of the
process is called oxidative phosphorylation. Here, the electrons on
the NADH and FADH2 molecules transfer to oxygen, forming
water as a byproduct. This step is why aerobic respiration
requires oxygen. Most importantly, during the process of moving
the electrons, the energy is transferred again, this time to ATP! So
we finally got our ATP!

Glucose + Oxygen 6 Carbon Dioxide + 6 Water + Energy

(36 ATP)

A single glucose molecule generates 36 molecules of ATP through

aerobic respiration. Glycolysis and the citric acid cycle produce
four net ATP molecules while oxidative phosphorylation produces
32, the majority.
Figure 1 - Overview of aerobic respiration

Fermentation:
Fermentation is an alternative pathway for cells to extract energy
from food. Fermentation still requires the conversion of glucose
molecules into pyruvate molecules; however, the subsequent
steps deviate from cellular respiration and occur in the absence of
oxygen.

Fermentation occurs primarily in yeast and bacteria, and there

are two primary types of fermentation: (1) alcoholic fermentation
and (2) lactic acid fermentation. Both processes produce energy,
but different byproducts are produced as a result.

1. Alcoholic fermentation occurs in yeast (some bacteria

undergo alcoholic fermentation, but that is beyond the scope
of this course). The glucose molecules are converted to
pyruvate, which are then further broken down into carbon
 dioxide and acetaldehyde. The acetaldehyde is then
converted to ethanol. This is the process by which bread and
alcoholic beverages are produced.
2. Lactic acid fermentation occurs primarily in bacteria.
Glucose is converted to pyruvate, and the pyruvate
molecules are then converted into lactic acid. This is the
process by which foods such as pickles and cheese are
produced.

Regardless of which process is used, fermentation generates

much less ATP than cellular respiration -- only 2 molecules of ATP
per glucose molecule.

Figure 2 - Overview of different pathways

As the atmosphere did not originally contain sufficient oxygen for

aerobic respiration, fermentation was the first energy-extracting
process to evolve. Primitive yeast and bacteria that existed during
this time needed a way to generate energy in the absence of
oxygen and developed fermentation as a way to do this. Over
time, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere increased, leading
to the evolution of a new method of generating energy: aerobic
respiration. Even though larger multicellular organisms such as
humans have evolved to use respiration to generate energy,
fermentation can still occur in our cells. For example, during
physical exertion, muscle cells can undergo lactic acid
fermentation if there is not sufficient oxygen getting to the
muscle. This leads to a buildup of lactic acid and causes muscle
fatigue, when your muscles can no longer perform.
Conversely, some bacteria can utilize oxygen in the environment
to undergo respiration. Even though they don’t have
mitochondria, they still have similar processes through which
oxygen can be used to generate ATP. Some bacteria are
“facultative anaerobes”, which means they can switch between
aerobic respiration and fermentation depending on their
environment. Other bacteria are “obligate anaerobes”, meaning
they can only survive in conditions where no oxygen is present
and thus rely solely on fermentation to generate energy.

Respiration and fermentation have some key differences:

Respiration Fermentation

Oxygen is required Oxygen is not required

 Water is produced as a byproduct No water produced

Generates 36 ATP molecules per glucose molecule Generates only 2 ATP molecules per glucose
molecule

Typically found in eukaryotes and larger, multi- Typically found in microorganisms like yeast
cellular organisms and bacteria

Respiration and Fermentation in Bread Making

In the bread-making process, the yeast that is present in the
dough undergoes aerobic respiration as the ingredients in the
dough are exposed to the oxygen rich atmosphere. Initially, the
yeast use the presence of oxygen as well as the sugars within the
dough to produce ATP for themselves, creating carbon dioxide as
a byproduct. The carbon dioxide produced is what causes the
dough to rise. The dough itself traps the carbon dioxide and
prevents it from escaping, which is how bread dough can double
in size when left alone during the rise or proofing step of the
bread-making process. Eventually, the yeast will consume all of
the oxygen within the dough. Since it is difficult for oxygen to
make its way into the dough, the yeast will transition over to
using anaerobic respiration to continue to provide energy for
themselves.

SALT IN ALL ITS GLORIOUS FORMS

As you have learned, and will continue to learn throughout

this course, salt is one of the most common and important
ingredients in fermentation. On a chemical level, all salt is
primarily sodium chloride (NaCl). However, supermarket
aisles boast a whole variety of salts from pink Himalayan
salt to kosher salt. How are these salt varieties different
and how might these differences affect fermentations?

Salts vary across three main characteristics: grain size

and shape, added ingredients - namely anti-caking agents
and/or iodine, and naturally-occurring minerals from the
salt’s source. Below are a few common salt types.

● Sea salt is made from evaporated salt water and

contains naturally-occurring minerals. Salt from
different regions of the world contain different
minerals, resulting in different colors and subtle
flavor differences. Some fermentation purists
 believe sea salt’s minerals improve a
fermentation’s flavor.
● Table salt is refined from salt mines and contains
anti-caking agents to prevent the salt from
clumping together as well as iodine, a
micronutrient critical for human health. As salt is
one of the few foods that almost everyone eats
daily, fortifying salt with iodine was one of the best
ways to ensure people consume enough of this
nutrient. The inclusion of iodine starting in 1924
greatly decreased iodine deficiency and associated
thyroid problems around the world.
● Kosher salt has coarse grains and includes anti-
caking agents, but not iodine. It is commonly used
in cooking and curing.
● Pickling salt has no caking agents or iodine. Its fine
grains dissolve quickly into water to form brines.

Opinions about the effect of iodine on fermentation vary.

In concentrated solutions, iodine is a common medical
antiseptic. It penetrates bacteria and wreaks havoc on
protein synthesis and other cell processes. However, its
concentration in salt is so low that it is unlikely to
noticeably affect your fermentation.