METABOLIC PROCESS PATTERNS 



of material enter and leave a reaction system uninterruptedly. The 

 technical flow process is based on flow charts which map the route 

 along which a compound is driven through a series of operations 

 "An ideal flow process is characterized by steady states of flow, tem- 

 perature and composition at any point of the process." This charac- 

 terization holds likewise for almost any metabolic process. 



Process Characteristics of a Fermentation 



The physicomechanical environment in which we live has in- 

 fluenced our thinking to the point at which we must overcome certain 

 mental inhibitions in order to comprehend the almost exclusive reliance 

 of the living organism on chemical operations. This is particularly 

 the case with processes of power generation which we habitually 

 associate with highly mechanical machinery, though most of the 

 power ultimately derives, as in our bodies, from chemical combustion 

 of carbon and hydrogen. There has been an additional, more inci- 

 dental, obstacle to a ready understanding of biochemical energy 

 transformation. In fermentation— we are just gathering the elemen- 

 tary facts — human interest has centered long on manufacturing aspects, 

 like the production of alcohol and other valued substances. From the 

 biological point of view, a fermentation or a respiration is designed to 

 produce power and the nature of the end product is more or less second- 

 ary and accidental. 



In the simpler forms of anaerobic carbohydrate utilization, 

 e. g., lactic and alcoholic fermentation, the mapping of the sequence 

 of reactions is now completed. But it will take some time until their 

 pattern and design are duly comprehended. However, life and 

 multiplication of a large variety of organisms are maintained exclu- 

 sively through fermentative transformation of energy, frequently 

 involving simple organic and nitrogenous compounds as starting 

 materials. Therefore principles derived from the chemical mechanics 

 of fermentation allow a fair amount of generalization. 



In scheme I, the simplest fermentative process, the conversion 

 of glucose into lactic acid and phosphate bond energy is represented. 

 To emphasize process characteristics, the now rather well-known inter- 

 mediaries are omitted in the scheme; the flow chart represents the 

 reaction sequence: 



