Secondary fermentation

Nachg ass, n. (Brewing) cleansing cask. Nachgarung, /. after-fermentation, secondary fermentation. 

The goal of secondary fermentation (maturation) is to balance the final beer flavour, especially to reduce diacetyl and its precursors by conversion into acetoin and 2,3-butanediol. During maturation, beer also reaches final attenuation, which is accompanied by a moderate cell growth comparing to primary fermentation. Secondary fermentation represents, from an engineering point of view, a simpler process, allowing the application of stationary particle reactors where the medium is passed either upwards or downwards through the bioreactor packed with immobilized yeast (Branyik et al 2005). 

The P-lactam antibiotics ate produced by secondary metaboHc reactions that differ from those responsible for the growth and reproduction of the microorganism. In order to enhance antibiotic synthesis, nutrients must be diverted from the primary pathways to the antibiotic biosynthetic sequences. Although most media for the production of penicillins and cephalosporins are similar, they ate individually designed for the specific requkements of the high yielding strains and the fermentation equipment used. 

Yeast (qv) metabolize maltose and glucose sugars via the Embden-Meyerhof pathway to pymvate, and via acetaldehyde to ethanol. AH distiUers yeast strains can be expected to produce 6% (v/v) ethanol from a mash containing 11% (w/v) starch. Ethanol concentration up to 18% can be tolerated by some yeasts. Secondary products (congeners) arise during fermentation and are retained in the distiUation of whiskey. These include aldehydes, esters, and higher alcohols (fusel oHs). NaturaHy occurring lactic acid bacteria may simultaneously ferment within the mash and contribute to the whiskey flavor profile. 

After 30 hours, the maximum and critical fermentation is underway and the pH must remain above 4.0 for optimal fermentation. However, accompanying bacterial contamination from various sources such as yeast contamination, improper cleaning procedures, slow yeast growth, or excessive temperatures can result in a pH below 4.0. The remaining amylase enzymes, referred to as secondary conversion agents, are inactivated and can no longer convert the dextrins to maltose. Under these circumstances, the fermentor pH continues to drop because of acid production of the bacteria, and the pH can drop to as low as 3.0. The obvious result is a low ethanol yield and quaUty deterioration. 

Research on novel fungal secondary metabolites resulted in the isolation of an interesting spiran, griseofulvin (15), from fermentation beers of the mold Penicillium griseofulvum. 

Ethyl Caprylate.—This ester is an oil reminding one of the secondary products of fermentation. It boils with decomposition at 275° to 290°, and has the formula CH3(CH2) COOC2H5. 

Biotechnological processes may be divided into fermentation processes and biotransformations. In a fermentation process, products are formed from components in the fermentation broth, as primary or secondary metabolites, by microorganisms or higher cells. Product examples are amino acids, vitamins, or antibiotics such as penicillin or cephalosporin. In these cases, co-solvents are sometimes used for in situ product extraction. 

There are several stages common to most fermentation processes but before identifying these it is appropriate to define some terms which will appear during this Chapter. Let us first distinguish between primary and secondary metabolites. 

Microorganisms have been identified and exploited for more than a century. The Babylonians and Sumerians used yeast to prepare alcohol. There is a great history beyond fermentation processes, which explains the applications of microbial processes that resulted in the production of food and beverages. In the mid-nineteenth century, Louis Pasteur understood the role of microorganisms in fermented food, wine, alcohols, beverages, cheese, milk, yoghurt and other dairy products, fuels, and fine chemical industries. He identified many microbial processes and discovered the first principal role of fermentation, which was that microbes required substrate to produce primary and secondary metabolites, and end products. 

Secondary kemochromatosis can occur after repeated transfusions (eg, for treatment of sickle cell anemia), excessive oral intake of iron (eg, by African Banm peoples who consume alcoholic beverages fermented in containers made of iron), or a number of other condi-... 

Some of the potential uses of the fats and oils found in plants have been reviewed and some uses of carbohydrate-based polymers briefly discussed. Plants contain a whole variety of other chemicals including amino acids, terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, etc. When the potential for these naturally occurring materials are combined with the secondary products that can be obtained by fermentation or other microbial processes or by traditional chemical transformations, the array of chemicals that can readily be created from renewable resources is huge. In this section a few of the more interesting examples are considered. 

In the interdisciplinary field of biophysics and biotechnology, the bioeffects of electric field have received considerable interest for both fundamental studies on these interaction mechanisms and potential application. However, the effects of pulsed electric field (PEF) on secondary metabolism in plant cell cultures and fermentation processes have been unknown. Therefore, it would be very interesting to find out whether PEF could be used as a new tool for stimulating secondary metabolism in plant cell cultures for potential application to the value-added plant-specific secondary metabolite production. Furthermore, if the PEF permeabilization and elicitation are discovered in a cell culture system, the combination of... 

In some cases, a secondary fermentation is encouraged. The wine is then racked or filtered to remove yeast cells and other solids and bottled. 

Streptomyces strains are Gram positive [54], they have good secretion capacities and extensive fermentation knowledge has been accumulated. Mostly, they were used for the production of secondary metabolites with potent biological activities, such as antibiotics, immunosuppressors or pesticides. Constitutive [55] and inducible [56] expression is possible. Up to 40% of the total soluble cellular protein was reported in the case of inducible expression. 

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