Spontaneous Fermentation of Malted Barley

Nathan S Fritzinger

OAI: oai:digitalcommons.ursinus.edu:biochem_sum-1005

Fermentation is used to preserve foods and make them taste better, such as in wines, beer, yogurt, and most cheeses. We looked at spontaneously fermented foods that contain diverse microbial communities, such as bacteria, yeast, and filamentous fungi to create sour style beers. Sour mash fermentation of malted barley allows for detection of specific microbial populations in the sourdough cultures. We used culture based detection methods, PCR, and next generation sequencing to amplify DNA and identify microbial populations that are present. Microbiomes are extremely useful because they have extremely accessible microbial systems as well as probiotic applications.

Fermentation sour barley mash Probiotics Polymerase Chain Reaction SEQUENCING spontaneous Biochemistry Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Food Chemistry Food Microbiology Life Sciences Molecular Biology