Fermented foods are those that have been transformed by microbial action or enzymes to produce a desirable biochemical and physical changes. Fermentation, from the perspective of the microorganism, is an oxygen free process (anaerobic) in which an organic compound endogenous to the organism acts as the final electron acceptor. For much microbial fermentations to occur the food must contain readily fermented sugar, usually either monosaccharide or disaccharides. The fermentation process usually needs an action of acids to metabolize the sugar. When the lactic acid bacteria ferment sugar, they produce varying amounts of lactic acid. This is due to two different metabolic pathways by which they may metabolize the sugar. One pathway results in homolactic fermentation while the other pathway leads to heterolactic fermentation.
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