Fermentation is a type of redox metabolism carried out in the absence of oxygen.
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During fermentation, organic molecules (e.g., glucose) are catabolized and
donate electrons to other organic molecules. In the process, ATP and organic end
products (e.g., lactate) are formed.
Because oxygen is not required, it is an alternative to aerobic respiration. Over 25%
of bacteria and archaea carry out fermentation.[2][3] They live in the gut, sediments, food,
and other environments. Eukaryotes, including humans and other animals, also carry
out fermentation.[4]
Fermentation is important in several areas of human society.[2] Humans have used
fermentation in production of food for 13,000 years.[5] Humans and their livestock have
microbes in the gut that carry out fermentation, releasing products used by the host for
energy.[6] Fermentation is used at an industrial level to produce commodity chemicals,
such as ethanol and lactate. In total, fermentation forms more than 50 metabolic end
products[2] This process highlights the power of microbial activity.
Definition
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The definition of fermentation has evolved over the years.[1] The most modern definition
is catabolism, where organic compounds are both the electron donor and acceptor.[1][2] A
common electron donor is glucose, and pyruvate is a common electron acceptor. This
definition distinguishes fermentation from aerobic respiration, where oxygen is the
acceptor and types of anaerobic respiration, where an inorganic species is the acceptor.
[citation needed]
Fermentation had been defined differently in the past. In 1876, Louis Pasteur described
it as "la vie sans air" (life without air).[7] This definition came before the discovery of
anaerobic respiration. Later, it had been defined as catabolism that forms ATP through
only substrate-level phosphorylation.[1] However, several pathways of fermentation have
been discovered to form ATP through an electron transport chain and ATP synthase,
also.[1]
Some sources define fermentation loosely as any large-scale biological manufacturing
process. See Industrial fermentation. This definition focuses on the process of
manufacturing rather than metabolic details.[citation needed]
