An Overview on the Biological Production of Vinegar

Figure 1. Conversion of alcohol to acetic acid reaction ( Source : Kehrar 1921)

Production methods of vinegar

Vinegar production methods could range from traditional methods

employing wooden casks (Orleans Process) and surface culture (Generator

Process) to submerged fermentation (Morales et al., 2001). Vinegar is an

important ingredient in many food products. The need for large amounts

of the vinegar demands industrial fermentation systems that are capable of

producing volumes that could reliably be controlled (De Ory et al., 1999).

Many technical devices have been developed to improve the industrial

production of vinegar. Generally, these improvements increase the speed

of the transformation of ethanol into acetic acid in the presence of AAB

(Tesfaye et al., 2002).

The Orleans Process

The slow method of acetifying wine which had been used in France since

1670 is known as the French or Orleans process. The Orleans process was

the only method to make pure wine vinegar and was reported to be the best

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