Tag: gm crops

Chymosin, known also as rennin, is a proteolytic enzyme synthesized by chief cells in the stomach in young ruminants. Its role in digestion is to curdle or coagulate milk in the stomach, in the very young animal. Chymosin efficiently converts liquid milk to a semisolid like cottage cheese, allowing it to be retained for longer periods in the stomach. It is widely used in the production of cheese. 

Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the saccharification of starch and fermentation of the resulting sugar. The starch and saccharification enzymes are often derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat.

Lactobacillus bacteria have the ability to convert sugars into lactic acid. The Lactobacillus strain is so named because it was first studied in milk ferments. These bacteria readily use lactose or other sugars and convert them quickly and easily to lactic acid.

Aspergillus niger is a fungus and one of the most common species of the genus Aspergillus. Various strains of A. niger are used in the industrial preparation of citric acid and gluconic acid.

S. cerevisiae is known for its role in food production. It is the critical component in the fermentation process that converts sugar into ethyl alcohol (ethanol), an ingredient shared in beer, wine and distilled beverages. It is also used in the baking process as a leavening agent; yeast releasing gas into their environment results in the spongy-like texture of breads and cakes. 

S. cerevisiae is known for its role in food production. It is the critical component in the fermentation process that converts sugar into ethyl alcohol (ethanol), an ingredient shared in beer, wine and distilled beverages. It is also used in the baking process as a leavening agent; yeast releasing gas into their environment results in the spongy-like texture of breads and cakes. 

In a bread dough, where the oxygen supply is limited, the yeast can only partially breakdown the sugar. Alcohol and carbon dioxide are produced in this process known as alcoholic fermentation. The carbon dioxide produced in these reactions causes the dough to rise, and the alcohol produced mostly evaporates from the dough during the baking process. During fermentation, each yeast cell forms a centre around which carbon dioxide bubbles form. Thousands of tiny bubbles, each surrounded by a thin film of gluten form cells inside the dough piece. The increase in dough size occurs as these cells fill with gas.

Yogurt is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as yogurt cultures. Fermentation of lactose by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its texture and its characteristic tang. Some representative strains of yogurt cultures are Streptococcus lactis, S. cremoris, S. thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, L. acidophilus, and L. plantarum.