Explain the fermentation reaction and its importance.

Fermentation is a process in which sugar or molasses is converted into ethanol and CO₂ gas by enzymes. It is an anaerobic process (In such reactions, presence oxygen is not necessary). In this reaction, sugar or molasses first converted into glucose and fructose by enzyme invertase. And then glucose and fructose converted into ethanol and CO₂ gas by enzyme zymase.

C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ + H₂O C₆H₁₂O₆ + C₆H₁₂O₆

C₆H₁₂O₆ 2C₂H₅OH + 2CO₂

Since fermentation reaction does not require heat, fermentation retains enzymes, vitamins and other nutrients that are usually destroyed by food processing.