History of Fermentation

Mankind is practicizing fermentation since pre-historic times. This useful conventional technology has risen by accident.

During pre-historic times, women made learned the art of kaffir beer from their husband before they get marry.

The term fermentation is derived from the Latin verb ‘fervere’, to boil, which describes the appearance of the action of yeast on extracts of fruits or malted grain during the production of alcoholic beverages.

Sorghum grains or millet are germinated, sundried ground and mixed with sorghum, millet or maize flours and water, and then cooked, cooled and fermented by the residual yeast and the dregs in the containers.

Millet

The use of fermentation starts might very well have its origins in the process of Euchok, the daughter of the legendary king of Woo of 4000 BC, known as the Goddess of rice wine in Chinese culture.

Understanding of scientific procedure of fermentation microbiology began in 1850s, after Louis Pasteur, who has succeed in producing two forms of amyls alcohol by fermentation.

Between 1900 and 1930, ethyl alcohol and butyl alcohol are the most important industrial fermentations in the word. But by the 1960s, chemical synthesis of alcohol and other solvents were less expensive and interest in fermentations diminished.

It is often mentioned that today’s modern biotechnology originated from the alcohol fermentation of primitive peoples.

Nowadays, the development of genetic engineering has made it possible to use the process of fermentation for the production of many compounds including vaccines, antibiotics and enzymes and also for biological conversion of many substances.
History of Fermentation