Agroindustry of Fermented Products

FERMENTATION

• Derived from ‘fervere’: boiling appearance of the action of yeast on extracts of fruit/malted grain.
• It is due to the production of CO2 bubbles caused by the anaerobic catabolism of the sugars present in the extract.
• Biochemists = fermentation = generation of energy by catabolism of organic compound
• Industrial microbiologist = fermentation = any process for the production of product by the mass culture of a microorganism (Stanbury & Whitaker, 1984)
• Fermentation = gradual change done by enzymes of microorganism (mold, yeast, bacteria) (Hidayat et al, 2006)

The Range of Fermentation Processes

• There are 4 major groups of commercially important fermentations :
1. produce microbial cells (or biomass) as the product, co : baker’s yeast, yeast for single cell protein, ‘ragi’, probiotics
2. produce microbial enzymes, co: amylase, protease, pectinase, catalase, glucose oxidase, etc
3. produce microbial metabolites, co : ethanol, citric acid, vitamins, acetone, butanol, glutamic acid, lysine, etc
4. modify a compound which is added to the fermentation– the transformation processes, co: conversion of ethanol to acetic acid at vinegar, production of steroid, antibiotics and prostaglandin

• the advantages : operating at relatively low temperature, without the requirement for potentially polluting heavy metal catalyst.

The Chronological Development of The Fermentation Industry

• Pre 1900 : alcohol and vinegar; batch, using pure cultures and ‘good vinegar’
• 1900 - 1940 : baker’s yeast, glycerol, citric acid, lactic acid, acetone / butanol; bath fed batch - using pure cultures
• 1940 - date : penicillin, streptomycin, other antibiotics, gibberelin, amino acid, nucleotides, enzyme, transformation; batch, fed batch, continuous, mutation and selection programmes essential
• 1960 - date : single cell protein; continuous medium recycle, genetic engineering of production strains
• 1979 - date : foreign compounds, not normally produced by microbial cells ex : insulin, interferon; batch, fed batch continuous batch, genetic engineering to introduce foreign genes into microbial host

Fermentation Products and their Microbial Producers

The Present Development of Industrial Fermentation

• Microbial cell of probiotics : capsule, drink/beverages
• Amylase and glucose isomerase for fructose syrup production as diet sweetener
• Colouringagent from microorganism for textile colours
• Biodieselas energy source to replace petroleum
• Bioinsecticides
• Microbial bioplastics(Polyhydroxyalkanoates)
• Isoflavonof soybean
• Lipase for detergent 

By: MS. Maulana