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FERMENTATION

Sanjeet Fermentation is a metabolic process that converts sugar to acids, gases and/or alcohol . It occurs in yeast and bacteria , but also in oxygen-starved muscle cells, as in the case of lactic acid fermentation . Fermentation is also used more broadly to refer to the bulk growth of microorganisms on a growth medium . French microbiologist Louis Pasteur is often remembered for his insights into fermentation and its microbial causes. The science of fermentation is known as zymology . Fermentation takes place in the absence of oxygen (when the electron transport chain is unusable) and becomes the cell’s primary means of ATP (energy) production. It turns NADH and pyruvate produced in the glycolysis step into NAD + and various small molecules depending on the type of fermentation (see examples below). In the presence of O 2 , NADH and pyruvate are used to generate ATP in respiration . This is called oxidative phosphorylation , and it generates much more ATP than gl