Fermentation

Fermentation is a metabolic process that converts sugar to acids, gases, and/or alcohol. It occurs in yeast and bacteria, and also in oxygen-starved muscle cells, as in the case of lactic acid fermentation. Fermentation is a process that has been used by humanity to preserve foods, changing chemical structure and taste, for millennia. Pickles, wine, beer, bread and much more are made using fermentation.

In recent years, the term “fermentation” has been also used more broadly to refer to the bulk growth of microorganisms on a growth medium, often with the goal of producing a specific chemical product. If you choose the right microorganism, the right substrate (food) and conditions, it is possible to obtain almost any valuable chemical. For example, there is a bacterium capable of making hyaluronic acid in culture, so that we do not need to source it from animals products (plants can’t make hyaluronic acid.)

______ Bacteria fermenting into HA

There is a limit to what a biochemist or microbiologist can do. A bacteria will use the enzymes it has to convert sugars or food that are supplied to it into what the bacteria can actually make.