Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-10-18
BACTERIA IN FOODS.
THEY PRODUCE CHEMICAL CHANGES
AND ASSIST DIGESTION.

t6Ef ThOOOCE C7EMlCRL Cf1RN0eS
AND ASSIST DIGESTION
A Single One of These IncOnceivabIy
Minute Organisms May Produce
Ten to Twenty Millions of on
spring In Twenty-four Hours.
The time has passed when bacteria are
looked upon as unmiXed evils. These lit
tie plants owe their somewhat unsavory
reputation in large degree to the fact that
they first attracted general interest be-
cause of their power of producing dis
ease. That they are the cause of many
human diseases has been demonstrated
beyond peradvcnture, and this subject
has proved so fascinating that it was for
a long time the only side of bacteriolog-
ical phenomena which received any con-
siderable attention. As a result, bacteria
have acquired the popular reputation of
being producers of evil to mankind and
have consequently been regarded as Who'll
ly undesirable organisms. The studies
Of recent years, however, have been Civ
ing more attention to phases of bacterio-
logical life which are not connected with
disease These studies have disclosed to
=
these little plants are, in various ways, of
direct advantage to mankind. Among
other facts, we have been slowly learn
ing that in the preparation of the food
which comes upon our tables and in it's
digestion the bacilli play no inconsider-
able part.
Since they are almost inconceivably
minute, bacteria owe their great influence
in nature to their wonderful powers of
reproduction. \ single individual may,
in the course of a hours, produce from
100000 to 20.000,O00 offspring. This
extraordinary power of reproduction in
wolves the consumption of n vast amount
of food material, and profound altera-
tions are produced in this food as the
bacteria feed upon it. The bacteria are
so small that they probably do not take
the food inside of their bodies, but they
live in the midst of their food and digest
it outside of themselves. This results in
certain chemical changes in the nature Of
the food.
These changes are mostly of that char
acter which the chemist calls destructive.
Under the action of bacteria, chemical
molecules which are of high complex
ity are constantly being pulled to pieces
and reduced to simpler compounds. AS
a result of this chemical action there ap-
pears in the food mass, upon which the
bacteria are feeding, a variety of new
chemical compounds. These new COM
pounds are in part simply byproducts Of
the chemical destruction of the molecules
which they have pulled to pieces, but
they are also in part to be regarded as
excretions from the bacteria. The use
Of bacteria in connection with food de-
pends partly upon their power of destruc-
ton and partly upon the nature of these
new compounds which they produce.
In considering the use of bacteria in
food we may notice first possible value
they may possess in assisting the proc
esscs of digestion. The digestion that
takes place in our stomach and intestines
consists in a chemical change in the food.
Now, the stomach and intestines are
crowded with bacteria in inconceivable
numbers. As psychologists have studied
the action of these intestinal bacteria
upon such food as we take into our stom-
achs they find that the bacteria produce
chemical changes in the food in many re-
spects similar to those of ordinary diges-
ton. As these bacteria certainly grow
rapidly in the intcstines, the question has
aid the digestive juice in the digestive
process even in n healthy individual.
1t is not easy to answer this question,
since it is impossible to deprive the hu-
man intestine of its bacteria and thus de-
termine whether the digestive processes
could go on readily without them. Such
an experiment has been tried, however,
with certain animals. For example, a lot
of chicks have been hatched from eggs
by artificial means, under conditions
which have absolutely excluded bacteria
from their food and from their alimen-
tary canal. These chicks have been
compared with others that have been in
cubated under similar conditions, except
that the bacteria have not been excluded
from their system. Upon comparing the
two lots of chicks after a few weeks or
life il has been found that those with the
bacteria in the alimentary canal have
hourished better, made better use of their
food and grown more rapidly than the
lot of chicks from which the bacteria had
been excluded Now, while all expert
ments in this line have not been absolute
ly in accord, they have resulted in
strong suspicion that the bacteria which
are present in our food and enter the
Jury to us, but are probably Of direct ad-
vantage in aiding our digestive organs
properly to handle and make use of their
nutrment.
These do not by any means comprise
all the uses of bacteria in food products,
but they may serve to show that bacteria
have a decided usefulness in connection
with our food Their use in our food is
| in two directions-they assist digestion
| by the chemical changes they produce in
our food, but their chief and most impor-
| tant usefulness is in connection with the
! fiavoring material which they produce.
| They furnish US with our vinegar and
| several other acid condiments; they
probably develop the flavor Of vanilla
and chocolate; they furnish the "gamy"
| flavor of meats; they give us all the de-
| licious favors of our buffers, and they
contribute in large measure to the sup
plying Of our cheeses with those t1avors
which have made them the world over
such popular and useful articles Of diet.
| international Monthly.