Cheese, yogurt, wine, pickles, chocolates and many others are just a few of our favorite foods that are being produced and processed through the help of beneficial or helpful bacteria. Like examining the wine through a microscope, producers found out that through the exposure of wine to air, the growth of aerobic bacteria converts the ethanol in wine to acetic acid. This resulted to what is now called vinegar, which comes from vin means wine and aigre means sour. Vinegar can be obtained from any fruit of material consist of sugar. This is the result of bacterial fermentation of alcohol to acetic acid. This fermentation is made possible through the help of the acid forming bacteria, which is called acetobacter. Ethanol is produced through anaerobic fermentation of carbohydrates by yeast. Ethanol is then being oxidized aerobically to acetic acid by other helpful bacteria called Acetobacter bacteria.
Acetobacter xylinum is a gram-negative genera of bacteria and is distinct in its productive synthesis of cellulose if closely examined through a microscope. The rows of pores releases mini-crystals of glucan chains and coalesce into microfibrils. The grouping of these microfibrils results to what is called ribbon. This ribbon can be directly observed through microscope. As time lapse, Acetobacter cells produces cellulose. For study of the enzymes and genes involved in cellulose biosynthesis, Acetobacter has been the model system. Studies show that acetobacter is not only useful in producing vinegar can also possibly be the future source of cellulose of textile, paper, and lumber if fermentation will be properly scaled up.
There are two biological process involve in producing a vinegar. By observing through a microscope, first the yeast turns the natural sugar to alcohol and ferments it. Second is the conversion of alcohol to acetic acid through the help of Acetobacter.
For food preservation, vinegar can be used especially in combination with oil. Vinegar also prevents dangerous bacterial growth in vegetables. Moreover, vinegar can also be used as kitchen disinfectant.
Studies have been conducted to explore the use of a fabric made by microorganisms. Acetobacter bacterium with red wine as substrate produces cellulosic material as observed with microscope. Models who wore it say that fabric when its damp feels very natural and looks like a second skin. Although it has a distinctive smell causing upturned noses, a kind of stale alcohol scent. Cass as one of the models added that people would either hate it or love it.
Although acetic acid is the basic component of vinegar aside from water, acetic acid is not vinegar. Vinegar consists of various multi vitamins, other compounds not found in acetic acid such as riboflavin, Vitamin B-1, and mineral salts from the starting material that generate vinegar’s distinct flavor.
The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledges that diluted acetic acid is not vinegar that if labeling of food indicates that the use of acetic acid implies or suggests that the food contains or was not prepared with vinegar. Acetic acid should never be an alternative for vinegar in pickled foods, which consumers customarily expect to be prepared with vinegar.
