Fermentation is one of the oldest forms of food processing known today. Many of mankind's favorite food and beverages are products of fermentation, whether organically or induced, such as beer, wine, bread, sausages, and various sauces & marinades.
There are several different types of fermentations that can occur in food and liquids: alcoholic fermentation, acetic acid fermentation, and lactic acid fermentation.
Louis Pasteur was a French physicist & chemist who's lifetime of discoveries changed science as we know it.
Making breakthroughs in fields such as crystallography, microbiology, fermentation science, and etiology, he contributed more in his lifetime than many before him.
Some of his prominent discoveries were:
The death of patient Jules Rouyer sparked a series of controversies that spanned the globe. Many scientists wanted to prove that Pasteur's method wasn't ready, or was completely false. However, Pasteur solidly argued & proved his case time & time again, keeping his vaccination method widely accepted.
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Cheese production in Iraq | 7000 BCE |
Wine making in the Near East | 6000 BCE |
Yeasts' properties are discovered in Egypt & used in leavened bread & wine making | 4000 BCE |
Fermented milk products became part of the human diet in many regions | 2000-12000 BCE |
Barley is fermented & turned into beer in Sumer | 1750 BCE |
Meat sausages were beginning to be prepared in Babylon | 1500 BCE |
Chinese regions began to use moldy soybean curd as an antibiotic | 500 BCE |
Vegetable preservation by fermentation is used in China | 300 BCE |
Cereal-legume based foods are developed | 500-1000 CE |
First whiskey distillery founded in Ireland | 1276 CE |
Sauerkraut & yoghurt begin to be fermented | 1500 CE |
Pasteurization developed by Louis Pasteur | 1851 CE |
Defined cultures are used in fermentation processes | 1900-1930 CE |
Probiotic cultures & bacteria used in mainstream foods | 1970- present |