Fermentation

Fermentation is a metabolic process that converts sugar to acids, gases and/or alcohol. It takes place in yeast and bacteria, but also in oxygen-starved muscle cells, as in the case of lactic acid fermentation. Fermentation is also used to define the bulk growth of microorganisms on a growth medium. French microbiologist Louis Pasteur is discovered fermentation and its microbial causes. The science of fermentation is known as zymology. Fermentation has been used by humans for the production of food and beverages. Fermentation is used for preservation in a process that produces lactic acid as found in such sour foods as pickled cucumbers, kimchi and yogurt, as well as for producing alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer. The impact factor of journal provides quantitative assessment tool for grading, evaluating, sorting and comparing journals of similar kind. It reflects the average number of citations to recent articles published in science and social science journals in a particular year or period, and is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field. It is first devised by Eugene Garfield, the founder of the Institute for Scientific Information. The impact factor of a journal is evaluated by dividing the number of current year citations to the source items published in that journal during the previous two years.