PRIMER FOR UNDERSTANDING FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY- THE ENZYMES

Even though all these while we have credited the microorganisms as the transformation agents in the formation of fermentation products from substrates, the REAL heroes are the enzymes themselves that cause the transformation to occur. These enzymes produced or being part of the microorganisms are responsible for the changes
In a simple fermentation carried out in vitro using enzymes obtained from living cells it is possible to cause the desired transformation. In fact this classical observation is the event that gave rise to the birth of enzymology and biochemistry.
As far as the microorganisms are concerned, they are just living sacs full of enzymes that are needed to carry out the various metabolic reactions needed for life. In fact we can envisioned the living cells or cytoplasm containing protein molecules which are just enzymes especially in the cytosol. Its more like a balloon filled with a suspension of enzymes
Therefore to study or understand fermentation technology we need to study the complex interactions that affect enzyme activities.
The complication that arises in comparing enzymes in fermentation technology and simple enzyme reactions in biochemistry is that most enzyme studies in biochemistry are involved with simple enzyme system ( minus the living cell) and they are using pure enzymes and substrates. This simplify a lot of things!
Whereas in the living cell we are involved have many enzymes which influence each other and require the series of enzymes to complete the transformation.
The product of one enzyme is the substrate of the next enzyme. This is further complicated by different kinetics of each enzymes and different control of enzyme activities such as catabolite repression and product inhibition.
A look at the standard metabolic pathway chart will show you the flow of substrates, and points of intermediate diversion far more complicated than the Pudu Raya traffic interchange or London traffic 
The traffic system of the enzymes are not that chaotic as there are rules of enzyme reactions which must be adhered.
Knowing these enzymes are necessary in order for us to appreciate the various fermentation kinetics and to understand fully the importance of such equations such as Michaelis Menten and Monod equation.
So do smile as you try to understand the enzymes. They form the foundation of fermentation technology!

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