Fermentation theory

Fermentation theory, in biochemistry, is the historical body of work explaining the natural processes of fermentation, especially alcoholic and lactic acid fermentation. Justus von Liebig and Louis Pasteur were among its most significant contributors, with Pasteur in particular developing a purely microbial account of fermentation from his own experiments, work that later led him to develop the germ theory of disease and to set aside the older idea of spontaneous generation. Fermentation had been used in practice for millennia before Pasteur's theories, but the underlying chemical and biological processes were not understood until his work explained them, and fermentation remains central today to the production of alcoholic beverages, many foods and various medications.