Humans have known about fermentation since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians produced bread and cheese thousands of years ago. Our ancestors mastered the brewing technology 3000 years ago. Whether making bread, cheese or wine, there is an indispensable process-fermentation. However, the ancients did not know what this fermentation was all about. They don't know that fermentation is the function of enzymes, let alone that enzymes are produced by microorganisms. Therefore, the ancient Greeks described fermentation as "boiling", which was really a confused concept. What our ancestors called "fermentation" is much more scientific.

Fermentation engineering, also called microbial engineering. It uses the unique fermentation function of microorganisms, combines with modern engineering technology, or directly uses microbial reactors to carry out large-scale fermentation production. The fermentation product can be either the microorganism itself (single cell protein) or the metabolic product of the fermentation process.

Modern fermentation engineering is different from traditional fermentation technology, and it has the following advantages: it can carry out continuous fermentation and semi-continuous fermentation; Have computer control to implement a high degree of automation; It is produced by engineering bacteria after gene recombination; It can be produced under pressure at about 45℃. The traditional fermentation process is batch fermentation, manual operation, using natural strains, and can only be carried out at normal temperature and pressure.

Because fermentation engineering has so many advantages, it is natural to be paid attention to by all countries. Hayden, chairman of the United Nations Advisory Committee of the International Society for Microbiology, told people: "Microbial engineering may become a force that causes industrial restructuring and social restructuring." That's true.