Fermentation

Fermentation

Fermentation uses bacteria or fungi such as yeast to change food. Human beings have been using fermentation since time immemorial to make a range of goods. In Genesis, we read about Noah getting drunk on wine for example. This clearly shows that people have been using fermentation over a long time.. In Swaziland, traditional uses of fermentation include:

• Use of yeast to make sorghum beer (umcombotsi).
• Other products of fermentation include sour porridge (incwancwa, emahewu), marula beer (buganu) among others.

• Yeast is also used to bake a range of goods including bread, fat cakes (emafethi/ emagwinya) etc. In this case, the yeast produces carbon dioxide as it respires. The carbon dioxide makes the dough light and fluffy giving the baked goods their characteristic texture.

Industrial production of beer by Swaziland Beverages and the production of bioethanol by Royal Swazi Distillers / USA Distillers are other examples. 

• Fermentation 
• Mushroom production
• Traditional selection
• Traditional breeding
• Plant tissue culture

• Mutation breeding
• Assisted Reproductive Technologies
• Cloning
• Molecular Marker assisted selection
• Biotechnology overview