ABSTRACT
Fermentation has been known and practiced by humankind since prehistoric times, long before the underlying scientic principles were understood. That such a useful technology should arise by accident will come as no surprise to those people who live in tropical and subtropical regions, where, as Marjory Stephenson put it, “every sandstorm is followed by a spate of fermentation in the cooking pot” (Stephenson 1949). For example, the productions of bread, beer, vinegar, yogurt, cheese, and wine were well-established technologies in ancient Egypt (Figures 1.1 and 1.2). It is an interesting fact that archaeological studies have revealed that bread and beer, in that order, were the two most abundant components in the diet of ancient Egyptians. Everyone, from the pharaoh to the peasant, drank beer for social as well as ritual reasons. Archaeological evidence has also revealed that ancient Egyptians were fully aware not only of the need to malt the barley or the emmer wheat but also of the need for starter cultures, which at the time may have contained lactic acid bacteria in addition to yeast.
