NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Our early ancestors used microorganisms to make cheese, yoghurt and bread. They also made alcoholic drinks like beer and wine. All of these foods and drinks are made by fermentation. Fermentation is the process that many microorganisms (yeasts, moulds and bacteria) use to convert sugars into energy.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the cheesemaking process, the bacterial cultures ferment milk’s lactose to produce lactic acid. The longer a cheese ages, the less lactose is left over because it’s been used by the bacteria. By the time an aged cheddar or Parmesan is ready to eat, hardly any lactose remains in the cheese.

Detailed explanation-3: -In cheese-making, not only do the milk proteins change, but so do its sugars. In particular, the milk sugar lactose is broken down into lactic acid by fermentation that depends on a group of bacteria referred to as lactic acid bacteria (LAB).

Detailed explanation-4: -The earliest cheeses would have been eaten fresh, preserved in pots with salt and stored underground, or even dried in the sun. They could also use clay pots to heat fermented milk to make acid-heat coagulated cheeses-the same method used to produce cheeses like ricotta.

Detailed explanation-5: -The production of cheese predates recorded history, beginning well over 7, 000 years ago. Humans likely developed cheese and other dairy foods by accident, as a result of storing and transporting milk in bladders made of ruminants’ stomachs, as their inherent supply of rennet would encourage curdling.