Fermentation: A Broader Perspective

Abstract

Fermentation is as old as man. It is a technology where growth and metabolic activities of microbes are used to preserve foods. The global increase in population and scarcity of food necessitated actions that will lead to increased and efficient food production, improved storage and transportation. Bacteria, fungi and yeast are capable of converting substrates of different kinds such as cereals, legumes, milk, meat, vegetables, palm sap, tubers and roots to produce variety of fermented foods consumed and enjoyed globally such as koji, kununzaki, yogurt, cheese, sauerkraut, peperoni, palmwine, fufu, Kefir, ogi, chhurpi and many others. Submerged and solid-state fermentation techniques are employed to produce fermented products which have applications in the food and non-food industries. Fermentation improves the, nutrition, enhances the shelf life and preserves of foods, baked foods production, produces biofuels and biopolymers as well as improves health.