Microbes IN Human Welfare flash cards

1. 1.Which microorganism converts milk into curd?

   Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), e.g. Lactobacillus

   Hint: LAB in milk

2. 2.What acid produced by LAB coagulates milk proteins to form curd?

   Lactic acid (produced from milk sugar/lactose); it partially digests milk proteins and curdles the milk

   Hint: acidic pH curdles casein

3. 3.Besides curdling milk, name one nutritional benefit of LAB in curd.

   They increase vitamin $B_{12}$ content; also check disease-causing microbes in the stomach

   Hint: vitamin + gut protection

4. 4.Which bacterium is added as a starter/inoculum to make curd from milk?

   A small amount of curd containing millions of LAB (Lactobacillus) is added as starter

   Hint: 'starter' = old curd

5. 5.Which dough-based food is made by fermentation using baker's yeast?

   Bread (dough is fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, baker's yeast)

   Hint: puffy bread

6. 6.What is the scientific name of baker's yeast?

   Saccharomyces cerevisiae

   Hint: same yeast for baking + brewing

7. 7.Why does bread dough rise (puff up) during fermentation?

   $CO_2$ produced by baker's yeast during fermentation makes the dough rise

   Hint: gas bubbles in dough

8. 8.Name two traditional Indian foods made from fermented rice/black gram (urad) dough.

   Dosa and Idli batter

   Hint: South Indian breakfast, batter puffs up

9. 9.What causes the dosa/idli batter to puff up?

   $CO_2$ gas produced by bacterial fermentation of the batter

   Hint: same gas as bread

10. 10.Which fermented food from the Punjab is made using dough and produces a puffed appearance?

    'Dhokla' and 'Dosa'-type batters puff via microbial fermentation (Bhatura/idli batter fermented similarly)

    Hint: NCERT lists dosa, idli

11. 11.'Toddy' is a traditional drink made by fermenting what?

    Sap of palms (fermentation of sap)

    Hint: palm sap drink of southern India

12. 12.Microbes are also used to ferment fish, soybean and bamboo shoots to make what?

    Foods (fermented foods) — e.g. fermented fish, soybean, bamboo-shoot products

    Hint: regional fermented foods

13. 13.What is the key role of microbes (LAB, yeasts) in cheese production?

    Fermentation partially digests milk components and produces flavour, texture and characteristic taste

    Hint: ripening + flavour

14. 14.Which cheese is characterized by 'large holes' due to $CO_2$ produced by a bacterium?

    Swiss cheese — large holes made by $CO_2$ from a bacterium named Propionibacterium sharmanii

    Hint: holey Swiss

15. 15.Which bacterium produces the large holes in Swiss cheese?

    Propionibacterium sharmanii (produces large amounts of $CO_2$)

    Hint: Propioni- + Swiss holes

16. 16.Which cheese is 'ripened' using a specific fungus that gives it a particular flavour?

    Roquefort cheese — ripened by growing a specific fungus on it for a particular flavour

    Hint: blue-veined French cheese

17. 17.What does the degree of ripening determine in cheese?

    Its texture, flavour and taste

    Hint: more ripening = stronger cheese

18. 18.QUESTION: Match the food with the microbe — (i) Curd (ii) Bread (iii) Swiss cheese hole. Options: LAB, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Propionibacterium sharmanii.

    (i) Curd → LAB (Lactobacillus); (ii) Bread → Saccharomyces cerevisiae; (iii) Swiss cheese holes → Propionibacterium sharmanii

    Hint: one bacterium, one yeast, one propioni

19. 19.What broad term covers the industrial-scale use of microbes to produce useful products like beverages and antibiotics?

    Industrial products / industrial microbiology (microbes grown in fermentors)

    Hint: large vessels = fermentors

20. 20.What are the large vessels called in which microbes are grown for large-scale industrial production?

    Fermentors (fermenters) — hold up to 1000 litres or more of culture

    Hint: big steel tanks

21. 21.Which single microorganism is used to produce beer, wine, whisky, brandy and rum?

    Saccharomyces cerevisiae — commonly called brewer's yeast, used to ferment malted cereals and fruit juices

    Hint: brewer's yeast

22. 22.What is the common name of the yeast used to ferment malted cereals and fruit juices to make beverages?

    Brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)

    Hint: brew = beer

23. 23.Which alcoholic beverages are produced WITHOUT distillation?

    Wine and beer (produced without distillation)

    Hint: lower alcohol, no distilling

24. 24.Which alcoholic beverages are produced WITH distillation of the fermented broth?

    Whisky, brandy and rum (produced by distillation of the fermented broth)

    Hint: distilled = higher alcohol

25. 25.QUESTION: A student says 'wine and beer are distilled products.' True or false, and correct it.

    False. Wine and beer are produced WITHOUT distillation; only whisky, brandy and rum are distilled

    Hint: wine/beer = no distillation

26. 26.Define antibiotics.

    Chemical substances produced by some microbes that can kill or retard the growth of other (disease-causing) microbes

    Hint: 'anti' = against, 'bio' = life

27. 27.Who discovered Penicillin and from which mould?

    Alexander Fleming, from the mould Penicillium notatum

    Hint: Fleming + Penicillium

28. 28.How was Penicillin discovered by Fleming (the observation)?

    He observed that a mould (Penicillium notatum) growing on his unwashed culture plates inhibited the growth of Staphylococci bacteria around it

    Hint: mould stopped bacteria growing

29. 29.Which bacterium's growth was inhibited around the Penicillium mould in Fleming's plate?

    Staphylococci (Staphylococcus)

    Hint: the contaminating bacteria

30. 30.Who established the full potential of Penicillin as an antibiotic?

    Ernest Chain and Howard Florey

    Hint: Chain + Florey

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