VINEGAR FERMENTATION A Thesis

ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this project has required the help and support of numerous people. I would like to thank major professor, Dr. which he provided throughout the course of this research. I would also like to thank the members of my committee, Dr. Marlene Jane and Dr. Zhimin Xu for everything that they have done for me and all their help with my research. Thanks also to research associate Ms. their technical assistance and constructive advice in this project. I would also like to thank everyone from the Department of Food Science and Department of Horticulture. You have become like a family to me, and I have enjoyed my time at LSU so much because of you. At the same time, I would like to thank Paul and Bert who helped me on research in the laboratory at Creole Fermentation Incorporated. I would like to thank Foong Ming Koh, my wife and best friend. I am very grateful for meeting you and for our relationship. Your encouragement and understanding is endless and I look forward to sharing many more accomplishments with you in the future. Finally, I want to thank my entire family. Without your help and patience, this would not have been possible. I feel extraordinarily blessed to have such a network of wonderful people in my life. Thank you all for believing in me and helping me reach my goal. ABSTRACT Traditionally, the manufacture of vinegar provided a means of utilizing a large proportion of the cull fruit from apple-packing establishments and the waste from apple processing facilities. Most vinegar is now produced from distilled grain alcohol. Vinegar may be defined as a condiment made from various sugary and starchy materials by alcoholic and subsequent acetic fermentation. The vinegar bacteria, also called acetic acid bacteria, are members of the genus Acetobacter and characterized by their ability to convert ethyl alcohol (C 2 H 5 OH) into acetic acid (CH 3 CO 2 H) by oxidation. Vinegar can be produced from various raw materials like distilled alcohol, wine, rice wine and any kind alcoholic solution by several major production techniques for making vinegar such as the Orleans process, generator process and submerged acetification process. The Orleans process consists of wood barrels filled with alcohol liquid fermented for about 1 to 3 months at 70ºF to 85ºF (21°C to 29°C). After fermentation, 1/4 to 1/3 of the vinegar …