Starch is an energy source for countless organisms. Among the microbes loving this complex sugar is a remarkable group of bacteria...

Terroir is created by unique environmental aspects. Often linked to wine, terroir also influences agricultural products such as cheese...

Lactic acid fermentation is used intentionally by humans for thousands of years. A common method of preservation, this biological process...

Pseudomonadota  is a phylum of bacteria associated with nutrient cycling, human and environmental health. Some like the E. coli,...

Pickling and fermenting are processes for preserving vegetables like green beans. Both enhance flavor and extend shelf life, but methods,...

Sugars are primary consumables and influence how bodies function, often in surprising ways. Sugars are essential for overall health. The...

Yeast strains and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in artisan baking and beverage production can affect the flavor profile of the product, like...

Mold (mould) is a multi-faceted entity, with properties from food enrichment to serious health hazards. Central to survival of mold are...

Yeast and mold are types of fungi, adept at the decomposition of organic matter. They share some similarities but each has a unique...

Wild yeast is a fascinating part of the natural world. Ubiquitous and often overlooked, it's a coveted organism of science, well-known by...

Nitrogen fixation is essential for life on Earth. Despite nitrogen being the most abundant gas in our atmosphere, it exists mainly in...

Chalk is fundamentally calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and takes hundreds of millions of years to form. This seemingly mundane mineral has a...

Uric acid is a factor in conditions like gout and kidney stones. It's also essential to the animal body, plants and the rest of the...

The Elixir of Life manifests as potion, tea, powder, water, oil or soluble salts. This mystical creation is said to bestow immortality or...

Maria or Mary the Jewess c. 100 AD is considered the first true alchemist. In her works she mentions a clear white herb growing on small...

Urine has medical and practical applications though history. Renaissance alchemist Hennig Brand discovers phosphorus by boiling his...

Opium poppy (Papaver somnifum) is the common source of opium and derivatives such as morphine or heroin. All poppies produce the narcotic...

Honey bees create honey, beeswax and folklore. First domestication of the honeybee is c. 8000 BCE, in the Neolithic Age. At this time the...

Mugworts are used in folk medicine of India, China, Europe, America and other regions. A member of Artemisia , mugwort is also called...

Broad beans ( Vicia faba ), faba or fava beans are cultivated as a crop from pre-Neolithic times to present day. Among the earliest...