Fermentation Sciences at App State

I attended a chemistry seminar back in October presented by Dr. Seth Cohen from Appalachian State University. He presented about the fermentation science program at App State. This program focuses on fermentation chemistry and biology, especially that which deals with food sciences. Students learn about the processes of making beer and wine, as well as breads and cheeses. It was very interesting to me that one small change in how the food is stored or what strain of bacteria or fungus is put into the food, the type of food or drink becomes completely different. For example, a small change in bacteria distinguishes one type of cheese from another or the different types of beer. Also the type of container the food is stored in or the temperature or humidity all affects the overall outcome of the food. All of these aspects are being studied by the students through biology (of yeasts and bacteria) as well as the fermentation chemistry involved with these microorganisms that allow them to produce food. What seemed especially fun to me was that at the end of a lab in the fermentation program, students might have something to take home and eat!

The brewery lab at App State

There are also other things besides the actual processes to make foods that are learned. Students run human studies to check the tastes of certain foods. They also use olfactometry in order to determine if the foods they are measuring match up to a certain standard. The program has a whole set up of tasting booths and olfactometers, as well as other qualitative measuring methods to determine the taste, smell, and other sensory properties of the foods.

Also, due to the booming wine and beer industry in North Carolina, the students in the program have an opportunity to take many entrepreneurship and marketing courses that would be essential in forming a brewery or winery. This is a very important aspect of the program that allows the students to become not only chemists, but also business owners.

I thought that this presentation was very neat, and that a lot of interesting studies are going on in App State. It was also mentioned that App will soon be looking for masters students for this program if anyone is interested!

http://fermentation.appstate.edu/

Picture Sources

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http://fermentation.appstate.edu/sites/fermentation.appstate.edu/files/P1030587small.JPG
http://wine.appstate.edu/sites/wine.appstate.edu/files/imagecache/header/images/Header.jpg
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