Stomach the small intestine, where the extraction of nutrients begins. Depending on the quantity and contents of the meal, the stomach will digest the food into chyme within anywhere between forty minutes and a few hours. The average human stomach can comfortably hold about a litre of food. Gastric juice in the stomach also contains pepsinogen. Hydrochloric acid activates this inactive form of enzyme into the active form, pepsin. Pepsin breaks down proteins into polypeptides. Although the absorption in the human digestive system is mainly a function of the small intestine, some absorption of certain small molecules nevertheless does occur in
Microbial food cultures from 1970s—production of first industrial concentrated cultures, frozen or freeze-dried cultures, for the direct inoculation of processed milk, improving the regularity of production processes. Microbial food cultures preserve food through formation of inhibitory metabolites such as organic acid (lactic acid, acetic acid, formic acid, propionic acid), ethanol, bacteriocins, etc., often in combination with decrease of water activity (by drying or use of salt). Further, microbial food cultures help to improve food safety through inhibition of pathogens or removing of toxic compounds. Microbial food cultures also improve the nutritional value and organoleptic quality of the food. The microbial food cultures used