Ferment

An enzyme, formerly known as ferment, is a substance consisting of giant biological molecules that can act as a catalyst to accelerate a chemical reaction. B. snRNA or catalytically active DNA . As with other proteins, their formation in the cell takes place via protein biosynthesis on the ribosomes.

Origin of words and history of enzyme research

For the use of brewer’s or baker’s yeast, as in mashing or yeast dough, and the processes of fermentation initiated with it, the term “fermentation” arose, still without knowledge of the existence of bacteria and their effect by enzymes. They date back to the Latin word fermentum. Columella uses this expression about 60 n. The first fermentation processes described Paracelsus and Andreas Libavius.

After René Ré Réaumur had examined the digestion of birds in 1752 and pointed out that birds of prey do not have a grain of crushing muscle stomach, but secrete a liquid in the stomach, Lazzaro Spallanzani was able to prove in 1783 that their gastric juice alone is enough to liquefy meat. The first direct use of enzymes without the involvement of microorganisms was made by the German pharmacist Constantin Kirchhoff in 1811, when he discovered that larger quantities of sugar could be produced by heating starch with the addition of sulphuric acid. In 1833 Eilhard Mitscherlich used the term “ferment” in connection with a substance which is not transformed in a reaction but is necessary for contact for a reaction. It was not until 1837 that three independent scientists discovered that yeast consists of microorganisms.

The German chemist Otto Röhm isolated ferment for the first time in 1908 and developed processes for enzymatic leather tanning, fruit juice purification and a number of diagnostic applications.