Lacto-fermentation
Anaerobic process converting sugars to lactic acid for energy and food.
Last updated
Lactic acid fermentation is an anaerobic metabolic process that converts sugars into cellular energy and lactic acid.[1] In homolactic fermentation, one glucose molecule yields two lactic acid molecules, while heterolactic fermentation also produces carbon dioxide and ethanol.[2] Some bacteria and animal cells, including muscle cells, carry out this anaerobic fermentation reaction, and it sees widespread application in both food preservation and the generation of new tastes.[1]
Last updated 2026-10-03 from the source article.
Quick Facts
- Field
- Biochemistry, Food Science
- Key discoverers
- Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
- Justus von Liebig
- Louis Pasteur
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Early farmers needed this process because fresh milk is nearly indigestible for adults.[3] Fermented milk contains enough enzymes to allow adults to digest lactose.[3] Recipes for cheese production appear in Cuneiform scripts, the earliest written documents.[3] Pasteur discovered this while advising a distillery in Lille, where he found both lactic and alcoholic fermentations caused by microorganisms.[4]
Some major lactose-fermenting bacterial genera are Escherichia, Citrobacter, Enterobacter, and Klebsiella, all within the family Enterobacteriaceae.[5] Archaeological evidence, analyzed chemically, indicates that milk fermentation was practiced in prehistoric times, with its earliest uses likely coinciding with the Neolithic Revolution.[3] Because lactic acid bacteria are naturally present in milk, fermentation will start on its own when the temperature is right.[3] Lactic acid bacteria possess the enzymes required to break down lactose, and during fermentation their numbers increase substantially.[3]
What the cited sources add
The Tempeh.info source states that the most important lactic acid producing bacterium is Lactobacillus, and lists other genera including Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Pediococcus cerevisiae.[6] According to the same source, lactic acid fermentation is used worldwide for foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and nham.[6] The Tempeh.info source explains that yogurt fermentation was probably accidentally invented by Balkan tribes thousands of years ago.[6] The Milk Facts source describes that yogurt is cooled to 7°C to stop the fermentation process.[7]
The Tempeh.info source reports that kefir fermentation involves both bacteria and yeast, unlike yogurt which uses only bacteria.[6] The Milk Facts source states that yogurt is pasteurized before starter cultures are added to keep the cultures active as probiotics.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Lactic acid fermentation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Battcock, "Fermented Fruits and Vegetables: A Global Perspective", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1998; Abedon, "Glycolysis and Fermentation", Ohio State University, 1998-04-03; Campbell, "Biology", Benjamin Cummings, 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lactic acid fermentation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Battcock, "Fermented Fruits and Vegetables: A Global Perspective", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1998 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lactic acid fermentation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Shurtleff, "A Brief History of Fermentation, East and West. In History of Soybeans and Soyfoods, 1100 B.C. to the 1980s", Ten Speed Press, 2004 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lactic acid fermentation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Latour, "Les objets ont-ils une histoire? Rencontre de Pasteur et de Whitehead dans un bain d'acide lactique. in L'effet Whitehead, Vrin, Paris, pp.196–217", 1993; "A History of Lactic Acid Making: A Chapter in the History of Biotechnology, chapter 1 and 2", Springer, 1990 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Lactic acid fermentation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Rapid identification of prompt lactose-fermenting genera within the familyh Enterobacteriaceae", Acta Pathologica et Microbiologica Scandinavica, Section B, 1971, p. 673–8 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Lactic acid fermentation", Tempeh.info. facts only, no text reused. tempeh.info
- "Yogurt Production", Milk Facts, 2006-12-29. facts only, no text reused. milkfacts.info
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Lactic acid fermentation (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Fermented Foods
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Lactic acid fermentation (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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