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In its strictest sense, 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. No oxidative phosphorylation is used, only substrate level phosphorylation, which yields a much lower amount of ATP. Fermentation is also used much more broadly to refer to the bulk growth of microorganisms on a growth medium. The science of fermentation is known as zymology. Fermentation has been used by humans for the production of food and beverages since the Neolithic. The process is often used to produce wine (see fermentation in winemaking) and beer, but fermentation is also employed in preservation to create lactic acid in sourfoods such as pickled cucumbers, kimchi and yogurt (see fermentation in food processing). 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, [1] 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 (adenosine triphosphate).
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Comparison of aerobic respiration and most known fermentation types ineucaryotic cell.[4] Numbers in circles indicate counts of carbon atoms in molecules, C6 isglucose C6H12O6, C1 carbon dioxide CO2.Mitochondrial outer membrane is omitted.
Fermentation products contain chemical energy (they are not fully oxidized), but are considered waste products, since they cannot be metabolized further without the use of oxygen. The chemical equation below shows the alcoholic fermentation of glucose, whose chemical formula is C6H12O6. One glucose molecule is converted into two ethanol molecules and two carbon dioxide molecules:
[5]
C6H12O6 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2 C2H5OH is the chemical formula for ethanol. Before fermentation takes place, one glucose molecule is broken down into two pyruvate molecules. This is [5][6] known as glycolysis.
The chemical formula of pyruvate is CH3COCOO . Pi stands for the inorganic phosphate. As shown by the reaction equation, glycolysis causes the reduction of two molecules + [8] ofNAD to NADH. Two ADP molecules are also converted to two ATP and two water molecules via substrate-level phosphorylation.
low and favor the production of such an energy-rich compound, nevertheless be formed, as in flatus.
[10]
As an example of mixed acid fermentation, bacteria such as Clostridium pasteurianum ferment glucose [11] producing butyrate, acetate, carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas: The reaction leading to acetate is: C6H12O6 + 4 H2O 2 CH3COO + 2 HCO3 + 4 H + 4 H2 Glucose could theoretically be converted into just CO 2 and H2, but the global reaction releases little energy.
+
G = -36 kJ/reaction
This disproportionation reaction is catalysed by methanogen archaea in their fermentative metabolism. One electron is transferred from the carbonyl function (e donor) of thecarboxylic group to the methyl group (e acceptor) of acetic acid to respectively produce CO2 and methane gas.