Vinegar Engineering: a Bioprocess Perspective

Food engineering is an important sub-field that requires special attention in the food industry. The application of biochemical process engineering principles in food production often leads to the optimization of certain features of the food production process; similarly, it results in rapid production, improved quality and reduced food losses. Consequently, to address each aspect of food processing including engineering adequately, researchers must have a multidisciplinary approach, using aspects from a number of fields such as microbiology, chemistry, food technology, process engineering and molecular biology. Accordingly, this review focuses on the engineering of various vinegars. Furthermore, cognizance is given to the gaps that need to be addressed in vinegar engineering, particularly to address limitations employed in traditional approaches during vinegar production. Food engineering assessments address numerous functions in integrated systems for which fermentation systems are the primary process. Mathematical models are used to describe the process, simulate future fermentations and describe process performance. Vinegar engineering also includes the use or design of bioreactors intended for improved product yield and rapid production, improved mass or energy transfer efficiencies and the reduction of detrimental hydrodynamics fermentor conditions on the microorganisms used. For vinegar fermentation, bioreactor selection which might include cell immobilization requires that appropriate process control and optimization be conducted using mathematical models, with rates of acetification being influenced by parameters such as the ratio of dissolved oxygen consumption in comparison to acetic acid yield