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What Type Of Organism Can Carry Out Alcoholic Fermentation?

August 20, 2023
written by Sidra Batool

Yeast and some bacteria can carry out alcoholic fermentation.

Alcoholic fermentation is a type of anaerobic respiration, which means that it does not require oxygen.

Read How Fermentation Produces Alcohol?

This makes it a useful process for making food and beverages in places where oxygen is not readily available, such as in the bottom of a wine barrel or in the stomach of a cow.

Yeasts are single-celled fungi that are commonly used to make bread, beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages. They are able to ferment sugars to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide through a process called glycolysis.

Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that can be found in a variety of environments. Some bacteria, such as Zymomonas mobilis, are also able to ferment sugars to produce alcohol.

Here are some examples of organisms that can carry out alcoholic fermentation:

  • Yeast: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the most common yeast used in baking and brewing
  • Bacteria: Zymomonas mobilis, used in the production of industrial alcohol
  • Moldy bread: Certain molds, such as Rhizopus stolonifer, can also produce alcohol through fermentation
  • Pichia pastoris, a yeast used in the production of recombinant proteins
  • Enterobacter aerogenes, a bacterium used in the production of industrial alcohol
  • Lactobacillus plantarum, a bacterium used in the production of yogurt and other fermented foods

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