UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

PRODUCT OF FERMENTATION - VINEGAR PRODUCTION

ASSIGNMENT
SEMESTER II
SESSION 2018/2019

GROUP MEMBERS NAME : ASWINI PURUSHOTHANAN (AN160118)

JIVASHINI BALASUPUR MANIAM (AN160185)
NURUL AIMI FARHANA BINTI AZHARI
(AN160009)
NUR SYHUADA BT ABD MALIK (DN160306)

COURSE NAME : FERMENTATION ENGINEERING

TECHNOLOGY

COURSE CODE : BNN 30304

PROGRAMME : 3 BNN

SUBMISSION DATE : MAY 2019

DURATION : 4 WEEKS

LECTURER’S NAME : Ts. Dr. SITY AISHAH BINTI MANSUR

TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENT PAGE

1.0 INTRODUCTION TO FERMENTATION 3-4

2.0 BACKGROUND OF THE INDUSTRY INDUSTRY AND VINEGAR

5-6
DESCRIPTION

3.0 CONVENTIONAL FERMENTATION METHOD, PLANT AND

7-10
BIOREACTOR DESIGN AND CHALLENGES

4.0 CURRENT VINEGAR PLANT APPLICATION 11-17

5.0 ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF THE FERMENTATION

17-18
PROCESSES

6.0 SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE

FERMENTATION 19-21
PROCESSES

7.0 CONCLUSION 21

8.0 REFERENCES 22
1.0 INTRODUCTION TO FERMENTATION

The term “ferment” initially derived from the word fervere, a latin word which means “ to
boil”. The fermentation process takes place naturally. The fermentation process became as
an subject about the year 1600, where the scientific investigation of the chemical process has
begun by then. Fermentation is defined by biochemical change caused anaerobic oxidation of
carbohydrate by microorganism or by enzymes.

In the late 1850s and 1860s, the first scientist to study about fermentation was Loius
Pasteur. He showed that fermentation was due to the presence of living cells.Due to his failure
of extracting the enzyme that is responsible for fermentation process from yeast, his study was
considered unsuccessful. In 1897, fluid from ground yeast was successfully extracted by a
German chemist Eduard Buechner. His discovery considered to be the beginning of the
science of biochemistry when he found out that sugar solution can be fermented by the liquid..

Metabolism process of converting carbohydrate, for example conversion of starch or

sugar into an acid or alcohol is known as fermentation.A common example of fermentation
process in conversion of carbohydrates into lactic acid with the help of bacteria. The study of
fermentation is known as zymology. Fermentation process is widely being used to produce
finest wine, bread, cheese and pleasurable delights including beer, yogurt.

Figure 1.0 : Fermentation products of glucose

Other example of fermented product is Kombucha and Miso. Kombucha is a fermented

tea that comes with many health benefits. It reduces blood pressure, improve both cholestrol
level and the body resistance towards cancer and detoxify the body. While, the texture of is a
paste like food that comes with sweet and salty at the same time. It originates from Japan and
has been gaining popularity worldwide. It is widely used as seasoning for side dishes and also

3
miso soup. During miso production, it was found that a bioactive compounds was released by
enzymes that exhibit antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer and antihypertensive properties.

There are so many benefits from fermented product. Firstly, fermentation aids digestion
of food. Adequate amount of digestive enzymes are needed by our body to properly utilize the
absorb nutrients from the food. Fermented food contained good bacteria that is considered
beneficial for the digestive system. To prevent food spoilage, bacteria in the fermented food
produces acetic acid, alcohol and lactic acid that retain nutrients during the fermentation
process.

There are seven main component of fermentation process.

a. Formulation of the media used of the cultivation of process organism during development
inoculumand in the fermenter production.
b. Medium, fermenter, equipment sterilization.
c. Production of a pure and active culture in needed quantities to inoculate the production
vessel.
d. Optimum condition for the growth of the organism fro product formulation.
e. Extraction and purification of the product
f. Disposal of the effluent from the process.

4
2.0 BACKGROUND OF THE INDUSTRY AND VINEGAR PRODUCT
DESCRIPTION

The product of conversion of alcohol to acetic acid with the help of Acetobacter sp. is vinegar.
Acetobacter sp. is an acetic acid vinegar. Vinegar is a fermented diluted alcohol product that
has sour taste. It is commonly used as condiment and preservative. As its name suggests, the
first ever made vinegar was made from wine, but now it has been produced from various type
of raw materials like rice, barley, fruits. The production of vinegar has two stages, first stage
is by which break down of sugar anaerobically to make alcohol and carbon dioxide by yeast.
Stage two involves, introducing the oxygen by bacteria that allow production of amino acid ,
water and other compound.

A wide range of vinegars have been developed with their own colors and flavors over the
centuries and around the world. These are used to culinary, medicine, agriculture, horticulture
and purification. Although vinegar production continues to involve natural bacterial effects,
industrial methods accelerate industrial production. While commercial vinegar production
involves natural bacterial action, the process is accelerated mainly through industrial methods
that increase the supply of oxygen to the bacteria (necessary to transform ethanol into
essence).

The types of vinegar produced depends solely on the raw materials used. The common
types of vinegar that exists in market are wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, fruit vinegar, apple
vinegar.

Wine Vinegar

These types of vinegars are most commonly used in Central Europe and Mediterranean
countries. They can be produced from red or white wine. Wine vinegars tend to have lower
acidity compared to cider and white vinegars. The wine quality increases and its taste
becomes mellow flavor when it is being aged. Common in Mediterranean countries, Central
Europe. They are produced from white or red wine. Quality of wine vinegar improves when
they are matured in wood by up to two years as they can exhibit a complex and mellow taste.
Compared to white or cider vinegars, wine vinegar have a low acidity level.

5
Beer Vinegar

Common in Australia, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands.The taste of this types of

vinegar often described as malty however the taste is solely depends on the type of beer in
which it was made. Only one type of fermentation involved in both wine and beer vinegar
production that is conversion of ethanol to acetic acid.

Fruit vinegar

Fruit vinegar are produced from fruits wine without any additives. The common types of fruit
are black current, apples. They are considered beneficial for the stomach, diabetic ailmentand
also spleen.

Balsamic Vinegar

These types of vinegars are dark brown in colour with an aromatic smell. They have a very
rich, complex and sweet flavour. They can be aged in different types of wood like cherry, oak
to obtain finest grades of product of the year. Balsmic vinegar should be produced from a
grape product no matter how it is being produced. Due to the sweetness of other ingredients in
the vinegar, its sour taste often hidden. However, they have a very high acidity level.

Malt Vinegar

Malt vinegar are made from barley. They are light brown in colour. The starch in the barley is
converted to maltose, followed by brewing of ale from maltose and then allow it to turn into
vinegar. The vinegar is then aged for a better quality.

Rice Vinegar

They are commonly used in the cuisine Southeast Asia and East as salad dressing or in sushi
rice. White rice vinegar has slightly “flat” with uncomplex flavor. It is possible to seasoned or
sweetened rice vinegar with any other flavor or with spices.

Example of other vinegars include , palm vinegar, raisin vinegar, honey vinegar.

6
3.0 CONVENTIONAL FERMENTATION METHOD, PLANT, BIOREACTOR
DESIGN AND CHALLENGES

Vinegar is produced from various method historically. These methods are later improvised in
order to increase or ease the production and also enable industrial scale manufacturing in a
short period of time. Thus, boosting their business economically.

3.1 The Orleans Method

Orleans Method is one of the oldest means in making vinegar is the Orleans Method.
It is a slow or natural process where wooden drums of cider or wine are left open at room
temperature. These fruit juices are later fermented into alcohol and then oxidized into acetic
acid as months pass by. The substrate for the alcoholic fermentation for vinegar productions
varies from one locality to the other.

This traditional way involves acetic acid bacteria from atmosphere that enters the left
opened barrels of wine and this process is well known as ‘fielding process’. The wine barrels
are normally made of wood and has capacity of almost 200 litre capacity. These casks were
always made sure to be filled about 2/3 to ensure there is a huge amount of air available above
the wine, thus increasing conversion. To initiate the fermentation process, a minor amount of
high-grade vinegar is introduced into the vat of wine. The added vinegar would be a great
help not only to introduce an inoculum of acetic acid bacteria but also to reduce the pH of the
wine which creates an unsuitable environment and become a drawback for other organisms.

A thick film made up of acetic acid bacteria that is shaped on the wine in all the 200
litre barrels would convert the wine into vinegar approximately in 4 weeks. About 15% of the
vinegar formed were drawn off at weekly intervals and replaced with new wine. In detail,
high-quality vinegar about 70 litres would be added initially to the cask along with 15 litres of
wine. After a week, additional 10 to 15 litres of wine are introduced, and this process is
repeated at weekly intervals. Vinegar is withdrawn from the vat after the 4th week, as more
wine would be added to replace the vinegar. This withdrawal and replacement process were
carried out at the bottom of the cask to avoid the film from being disturbed.

7
 Diagram 3.1 displays the manufacturing stages involved in the Orleans Process:

Diagram 3.2 : Orlean Fermenter

However, this method has its own disadvantages. First, Orleans Process takes up to 5 weeks
which is considered slow when compared with other new methods. It was also found
inefficient as only 75-85% of theoretical amount of yield produced. Other complications
include on how to add more wine without disrupting the floating bacteria mat. But it was
solved by using a glass tube which reaches the barrel bottom and enable liquid to be added
without disturbing the bacteria mat. Another challenge is that due to disturbance or its own
thickness and weight, the film of bacteria might sink causing a restart of the whole process as
acetic acid bacteria are aerobic. Despite all these drawbacks, Orleans Process is continued in
many European countries till today due to its ability to produce a very high-quality vinegar
product

8
3.2 The Trickling Generators (Quick) Method

This method is known as a quick method as it enables vinegar production in a matter of days
instead of weeks. It is one of reasonably efficient method and has the capability to produce
more than 500 gallons of vinegar for every 24 hours. In this method, an upright tank is
occupied with wood shavings of beech and fitted with equipment that permit alcoholic
mixture to trickle down through the shavings where the acetic acid bacteria lives. Although
the wood shavings soften with age, it can be still used for twenty and thirty years in a
well-maintained generator.

The cylindrical tank generator has a perforated false bottom supporting the wood
shavings to increase the air flow from the bottom to top and also to separate them from
collection chamber that inhabits about 1/5 of total generator capacity. A solution mixture
which consists of an accustomed alcohol solution that is acidified with acetic acid and specific
nutrients for acetic acid bacteria growth is prepared. Mostly, bacteria of the genus Acetobacter
are inoculated in the wood shavings. The solution that was made was let to dribble down over
the shavings and later collected at the generator bottom to be recirculated over the shavings
leading to more alcohol oxidation. This is continued until the desired strength of vinegar is
obtained. Diagram below shows a tricking fermenter.

Diagram 3.3 shows an tricking fermenter.

9
 Diagram 3.4 displays the manufacturing stages involved in the Trickling Method:

Even though it is the most widely used method in industries till today, Trickling
Generator Method has its own challenges that need to be faced. One of them is that during
alcohol oxidation by bacteria, temperature of the cider increases high enough to kill the
bacteria. Thus, the temperature of the fermenter must be regulated to be around 28℃ using
cooling water in heat exchanger of the tank. Other than that, air can also be forced through the
false bottom up in to the chamber to keep it cool. However, the air flow rate must be
controlled to ensure it is not too high, thus preventing alcohol and vinegar to lost in effluent
air.

Workers should also regularly monitor the thermostats on tanks as electricity loss has the
potential to kill the Acetobacters within seconds. As such, many vinegar plants would have
backup systems to produce electrical power if there was a sudden power shutdown. Besides,
presence of unwanted microbes might spoil the vinegar such as vinegar eelworm that cause
depletion of flavour and appearance. In short, care should be taken to prevent contamination.

10
4.0 CURRENT VINEGAR PLANT APPLICATION

4.1 Current Vinegar Plant Production : Submerged Fermentation

Vinegar manufacturing technique has been changed from the traditional method using wood
cask and surface culture to submerged fermentation (Morales et al 2001). The increasing
demand of vinegar in the market demands the fermentation industrial to develop more
technical devices or system in order to meet that market demand. Vinegar mass production
has been establish since 1732 using generator process with trickling bioreactor and submerged
fermentation soon established by using acetator from the study of bacteria or yeast industry
especially and be applied till now.

4.1 Raw Material of Vinegar Mass Production

Common raw materials used for the production of vinegar are as follows:

a) Liquid form of alcohol

The origin of the alcohol can be varies from any carbohydrates such as sugar cane, malt or
rice. These carbohydrates fermented by yeast producing alcohol anaerobically. Common
alcohol used are from wine and beer. The alcohol product is pasteurized, filtered and then
diluted to alter the alcohol concentration before used as vinegar ingredients.

b) Mother of vinegar

Mother of vinegar is added to accelerate the production of vinegar. Mother of vinegar are
commonly an aerobic bacterial cultures. The aerobic bacteria used for vinegar production are
bacteria from genus Acetobacter acetii. These bacteria works at temperature 28 °C with full
air supply. The bacteria can tolerate temperature at minimum, 20 °C until maximum at 33 °C.
The alcohol will not be converted into acetic acid below or above these range of temperature.
The initial concentration of alcohol used be below than 7.5 %(v/v) and no free sulfite allowed.
Mother of vinegar is the jelly-ish film that formed on the surface of the alcohol which
indicates that the vinegar has been produced. Mother of vinegar is skimmed off the surface
and fed to next batches of alcohol chosen to speed the manufacture of vinegar. The gooey film

11
is a natural carbohydrates called cellulose which grasp the most concentration of Acetobacters.
Some vinegar manufactures, man-made powdered form of mother of vinegar are used. The
man-made mother of vinegar are added into the alcohol liquid as a bacterial culture.
Commonly, the man-made mother of vinegar used are acetozym nutrients.

c) Flavoring agent

In oversea, most of vinegar are flavored with herbs or fruits to have a most pleasing and
authentic taste. For instance, tarragon, garlic an basil flavor are used to obtain herb flavored
vinegar. Raspberries, cherries and lemons are most popular fruit flavor used.

4.2 Vinegar Manufacturing Process

Most of the time, manufacturer would order liquid alcohol in ready form for the vinegar
production. Some manufacturer will produced their own alcohol liquid to maintain the quality
and the authenticity of the vinegar produced. There are 5 main process of vinegar production
which are acetic fermentation, filtration, dilution, pasteurization and bottling. The process
described as follows:

Wash grape )
Grape)

(a)

(b)

Figure 4.2 shows the (a) alcohol liquid production and (b) the vinegar production.
12
d) Acetic fermentation

Acetic fermentation or conversion of alcohol to acid by oxidation is the important step in the
production of vinegar and it is aerobically executed. The alcohol is oxidized to vinegar by the
action of acetic bacteria which is from Acetobacter acetii. In this process, alcohol are filled in
the large stainless steel tanks called acetators. The acetator designed with centrifugal pumps
that pumps fresh air in the bottom of the tank. As the pumps circulate the alcohol, acetozym
nutriets are fed to the tank. The nutrient encourage the growth of bacteria, Acetobacter with
oxygen bubbles from the centrifugal pumps which fasten the fermentation process. The tank
are maintain the temperature between 26°C to 38°C using heater. In a period, the maximum
alcohol product is converted into vinegar. The alcohol is aerated in the acetator until the
vinegar concentration reaches its maximum and the alcohol reduced to range 0.3 vol%.

bacteria
2C2H5OH (Ethyl Alcohol)+O2 CH3COOH(Acetic Acid) + H2O + Energy

About a more than half volume of the acetator then is pumped into the ejection tank. Ejection
tank act like a storage tank. The acetator then fed again with fresh alcohol from the alcohol
storage tank for the next vinegar production batch. A batch cycle depend on the alcohol
concentration and usually required a day for a single batch cycle. The raw vinegar allowed to
mature for several day and let the impurities settle at the bottom of the tank.

e) Filtration

The vinegar that produced by this method tend to have high turbidity as the high baterial
concentration which makes it need to be filtered. The vinegar form the ejection tank then
piped to a plate and frame filtering machine. The vinegar will be filtered to remove all the
bacteria, coagulated proteins, precipitated salts that floating in the vinegar. The stainless steel
plates press the vinegar through paper filters to purify the vinegar. Commonly, 3 % of the
total product are loss in this process because of the impurities removal. The impurities then
goes to the decompose section while, the acetic acid flowed to the dilution station. The
impurities removal resulting more clear vinegar cause the impurities makes the vinegar have a
high turbidity.

13
f) Dilution

Optionally, the vinegar can be diluted with process water or be distilled. To obtained diluted
vinegar, the vinegar will be heated till the boiling temperature until vapour released. When the
vapour that is released, the vapour will be collected in the condenser and ready to be bottled.

g) Pasteurization and Bottling

In this process, the vinegar are heated to a temperature before filled into sterilized bottle. The
bottling process be done manually or by automatically using technology in aseptic
environment. The bottled vinegar then placed in hot water bath at temperature 60°C until
65°C for 30 minutes. This are the pasteurization process. The vinegar are not allowed to be
heated to high temperature directly cause it will effect the raw and probiotic quality. The
bottled vinegar then ready for market and must keep out from the direct sunlight.

4.3 Mechanism of Acetic Fermentation in Acetator

Basically, the main element needed in acetic fermentation are acetic acid bacteria which is
Acetobacter acetii, substrate containing sugar which in this cases is wine and sufficient supply
of oxygen. Acetobacter are known with the aerobic respiratory metabolism and oxygen act as
final electron acceptor. Nevertheless, other compound might as well act as electron acceptor
which allowed the bacteria to survive under nearly anaerobic conditions that occur in wine
fermentation. The bacteria's growth in these media is severely limited, and they may remain
viable but not culturable. On these substrates, the sugars and alcohols are incompletely
oxidized lead to the accumulation of organic acid, for instance the production of acetic acid
from ethanol or gluconic acid from glucose.

Some acetic acid bateria have metabolism include a tricarboxylic acid cycle function that
enable them to convert acetic acid to carbon dioxide and water completely. However, the
presence of ethanol inhibit it entry to the acetate cycle, therefore it is necessary to keep the
ethanol concentration is low in the presence of acetic acid bacteria to forbid this full oxidation.
In fact, ethanol concentrations between 0.5 and 1% are regularly maintained in vinegars.

14
 Polyphenolic compounds present in plant products which influence the quality
determinants due to their antioxidant activity which responsible for the color and astringency
of vinegar. Acetification is an aerobic process, and oxygen is critical to the growth of the
bacteria. It is stressed that submerged systems use excess oxygen to secure and fasten the
fermentation process, whereas oxygen availability is limited in superficial cultures because it
is continuously taken up by acetic acid bacteria. Additionally, oxygen affects the classes of
polyphenolic compounds to different degrees. For example, the flavonol content of vinegars is
largely influenced by oxygen availability during submerged fermentation. In contrast, surface
acetification vinegars do not affect phenolic aldehydes, which are released from wooden
barrels into the product.

4.4 Bioreactor used : Acetator

All submerged fermentation method required an aeration system that supply air in high
velocity as the high acidic condition of submerged production the bacteria will be dead within
30 seconds when the oxygen supply is not meet the demand. An efficient cooling system also
must be installed as over 30 000 calories of heat are released per gallon of ethanol. Acetator
essentially shaped like the typical aerated stirred tank bioreactor.

Figure 4.4 shows the srtucture of a typical fermenter (Stirred Tank Batch Bioreactor)

15
 The acetator built of a stainless steel installed with internal cooling coils and agitator
fitted through the bottom. Air is sucked in through an air meter located at the top. Then,
spread by the agitator throughout the liquid. The high supply of air causedthe vinegar is
produced in cycles of 24 hours and acidity of the product can reach concentrations of acetic
acid of up to 23–25%, compared to 6–13% achieved with other systems. Higher acidity helps
to reduce transportation costs by reducing water transport.The temperature are maintain at the
bacteria optimum working environment at 30 °C. an automatic foam breaker to control the
foaming.

This fermentor operated batchwise and the cycle time for producing 12% vinegar is about
35 hours. It is self-aspirating, no compressed air being needed. The hollow rotor is installed
on the shaft of a motor mounted under the acetator, connected to an air suction pipe and
surrounded by a stator. It pumps liquid that enters the rotor from above outward through the
channels of the stator that are formed by the wedges, thereby sucking air through the openings
of the rotor and creating an air–liquid emulsion that is ejected outward at a given speed. This
speed must be chosen adequately so that the turbulence of the stream causes a uniform
distribution of the air over the whole cross section of the fermentor.

Figure 4.4 a shows the Frings acetator compartment which are (a) hollow rotor,(b) stator, (c)
air suction pipe, (d) opening for air exit, (e) wedges to form the channels and (f) channels to
form the beams of air-liquid emulsion.

16
 The acetator have Frings alkograph that automatically monitors the alcohol content and
signals the end of the batch when the alcohol content falls to 0.2% (v/v). At this stage about
one third of the product is pumped out and fresh feed pumped in to the initial level. The
aeration are supplied continue throughout the period of the unloading and loading. The Frings
Alkograph is an automatic instrument for measuring the amount of ethanol in the fermenting
liquid. Small amounts of liquid flow through the analyzer continuously, at first through a
heating vessel and then through three boiling vessels. The boiling temperature of the
incoming liquid is measured in the first boiling vessel. While alcohol is distilled off
continuously from the second and the third boiling vessel, the higher boiling point of the
liquid from which ethanol has been removed is measured in the third boiling vessel. The
difference in temperature corresponds to the ethanol content and is recorded.

The recent Frings acetators can be run on a semi-continuous basis. To execute the
single-stage semi-continuous process at a set alcohol content, a contact in the Alkograph
activates the vinegar discharge pump. As soon as a preset level has been reached, the alcohol
fed pump starts adding fresh alcohol. This pump is controlled by the fermentation temperature
in order to refill under constant temperature. The pump is stopped when the desired level is
reached and an automatic cooling system is activated. A fermentation cycle takes 24 to 48
hours.

5.0 THE ADVANTAGES OF SUBMERGED FERMENTATION

The submerged fermentation for production of vinegar has several advantages that gives good
impact towards efficiency of a process. First of all, the Frings acetator has gave a great
performance towards its efficiency rather than the trickling generator. According to a research,
it has been proved that the Frings acetator production rate were 10-fold greater than the
trickling generator where 94% and 85% efficiency of both generators have been recorded
recently (Okafor, 2007).

Moreover, the production of one batch of vinegar can be completed in faster rate
within short period of time. So, it was important for the system to choose the most suitable
turbines in order to form air bubbles flow into the alcoholic solution. Overall, the system of
turbine started with a turbine at the bottom of the tank and brought the air back into the liquid
(Okafor, 2007). So, the turbine can be monitor automatically with an electronic system.

17
 Turbine systems are suitable for producers who plan to make more than 50,000 liters of
vinegar per year (Okafor, 2007) . Based on the previous research, it shows that by using
submerged fermentation, the acidity concentration of acetic acid can reach up to 23-25%
compared to 6-13% achieved by the old system (Teixeira, 2013) . The acidity at higher rate
may assist to lower the transportation cost by reducing the water transport.

In addition, the quality of vinegar produced by using submerged fermentation are

more uniform and consistent compared to other fermentation process. The space area to install
the stirred tank batch bioreactor is smaller (Teixeira, 2013). So, it saves space to use for other
process compared to trickling generator which required more larger area. Instead of that, the
Frings acetator are not complicated for automation control and continuous production rather
than trickling generator.

5.1 THE DISADVANTAGES OF SUBMERGED FERMENTATION

The production cost and power consumption rate are high. The power must be supply 24
hours. It is because of the continuous purging of oxygen in order to maintain the aerobic
environment to enhance the aerobic microbes. All submerged fermentation method required
an aeration system that supply air in high velocity as the high acidic condition of submerged
production of bacteria will be dead within 30 seconds when the oxygen supply is not meet the
demand (Karekar, 2019).

The bacteria may die from the power failure even though in short period of time.
Furthermore, any additional cost to supply the ethanol or any other substrates used for the
production of acetic acid is required together with the cost to improve the quality of acetic
acid (Okafor, 2007).

18
6.0 SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Fermentation has been widely used for production of many products that gives good impact
towards an individual and industry too. Over the years, the fermentation process has gain
importance due to their environmental and economic benefits. The previous technology has
been constantly improvised in order to maximize its productivity. So, new machinery and
process has been developed to improve the fermentation process.

First of all, the immobilized cells has been widely used to enhance the fermentation
process by enlarge the biomass, choices of reusability, the defence of cells from any toxic due
the decrease of pH value, temperature and inhibitors too (Admasu, 2015) . The selection of
immobilization cells in the form of low-priced easily obtainable inert biological materials can
assist to minimize the production cost (Admasu, 2015) . According to a study, in order to
invent a productive and cost-effective process, the immobilized cells of Acetobacter aceti is
used for vinegar production from cane juice (Admasu, 2015).

Three different inert materials which consists of bagasse, corn cobs and wood
shavings were used and compared for immobilization of Acetobacter aceti cells (Admasu,
2015) . So, the first sugarcane juice was converted to ethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae
producing 8% (v/v) ethanol (Admasu, 2015) .The ethanol was used to manufacture the
vinegar by using adsorbed and entrapped cells of Acetobacter aceti. As an outcome, it reveals
that all three adsorbed carrier materials were statistically similar for acetic acid production
and produced acidity from 5.9 to 6.7% after 28 days of submerged fermentation (Admasu,
2015) . Moreover, by recycling the bagasse adsorbed cells, the consumption time for
manufacturing acetic acid was lessen to 13 days.

Figure 6.0 : Vogelbusch IP-8 aerator

19
 The improvement and enhancement of process usually involved engineering that
includes the maintenance and consistency of liquid bubbles and uniformity of the size of
bubbles. So, Vogelbusch vinegar fermentation system was being introduced because of its
well-regulated and systematic IP-8 aeration system (Schulze, 2015) . The aerator is not
difficult to control and have a very minimal energy consumption. So, it retains the optimal
surroundings for the growth of vinegar bacteria in the fermentation tank. The rotating
self-priming turbine produces tiny, uniformly-sized air bubbles, creating the high oxygen
transfer rates necessary for high vinegar production rates (Schulze, 2015) . The design can
diminish the shear forces, hinder the mechanical damage to the vinegar bacteria and foam
formation (Schulze, 2015). So, the Vogelbusch vinegar fermentation system does not need a
mechanical defoaming device.

Figure 6.1 : The figure above shows the GS2E gas analyzer. The system consists of a
probe which is placed inside the fermenting mash and connected to a switchboard by a
flexible tube.

GS2E Gas Analyzer is an ethanol sensor for process automation that ensure a good in
performance of online detection of the current ethanol concentration during vinegar
fermentation. Other than that, the whole systems can detect and observe the ethanol content in
real time without sampling and analysis until the fermentation was completed (Schulze,
2015). The GS2E gas analyzer has been created to be installed on-site near the bioreactor. The
switchboard is specially designed for field installation in the vicinity, less than 5 meters of the
fermenter, preferable on a wall to be free of vibrations (Schulze, 2015).

20
 Power-supply and instrument air must be available. In addition, a semiconductor
sensor element which is in contact with the ethanol-enriched air passing a probe remark and
identify the ethanol. The necessary process values such as ethanol concentration, temperature
and sensor resistance are locally displayed at the instrument. The ethanol concentration is
viewed on the instrument and transformed to a standard current signal and two limit relay
contacts which can be used as an input signal for documentation and visualization (Schulze,
2015) . Besides, this equipment has easy installation and integrating with existing machinery
and it is fit for any type of fermenter and control system as it follows the standard industrial
design of all equipment.

7.0 CONCLUSION

Fermentation is one the process biochemical change caused anaerobic oxidation of

carbohydrate by microorganism or by enzymes. Vinegar is a type of fermented product. It was
initially produced from wine but now it is commercially being produced from variety of raw
materials like rice, fruits and etc. The 3 main processes in involved in vinegar production are
generator or trickling method, the submerged fermentation or the Acetator method and the
Orleans traditional method. Among all this method, the generator method is considered most
quickest method in comparison of other method. While, submerged vinegar is most
commonly used as it can produce high quantities of vinegar with high acetic acid content. The
process can be further improved by the choice of cell immobilization as it can improve the
fermentation process by giving option of reusability, increase of biomass and aids in
clarification of the product. This will eventually reduce the cost of the overall process.

21
8.0 REFERENCES

1. Admasu, S. (2015). Vinegar Production Technology.

2. Albert Mas, María Jesús Torija, María del Carmen García-Parrilla, and Ana María
Troncoso , (2014) , Acetic Acid Bacteria and the Production and Quality of Wine
Vinegar
3. Karekar, S. (2019). Kinetic Study on Heterotrophic Growth of Acetobacterium woodii on
Lignocellulosic Substrates for Acetic Acid Production.
4. Nduka Okafor, 2007, Chapter 14 Vinegar, Modern Industrial Microbiology and
Biotechnology
5. Okafor, N. (2007). Modern Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology . Science
Publishers.
6. Schulze, T. (2015). Vogelbusch Vinegar Plants. Retrieved from
https://www.vogelbusch-biocommodities.com/assets/1-Technology/Brochures/VBC-Fact
Sheet-GasAnalyzer-VinegarPlants.pdf
7. Simon Hailu, Shimelis Admassu and Yogesh Kumar Jha, 2012 Vinegar Production
Technology – An Overview
8. Teixeira. (2013). Engineering Aspects of Food Biotechnology, Chapter: Advanced
Fermentation Processes. Taylor & Francis Group.
9. Vinegar retrieved at 26th April 2019 from
https://www.safefoodfactory.com/en/knowledge/40-vinegar/
10. Vinegar retrieved at 26th April 2019 from
https://ucanr.edu/sites/cottagefoods/files/201275.pdf

22