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jelly and jam

(Encyclopedia)jelly and jam, gelatinous, sweet food prepared by preserving fresh fruits. Since most fresh fruits contain about 80% water and from 10% to 15% sugar, they are subject to fermentation. They may be pres...

sherry

(Encyclopedia)sherry [from Jérez], naturally dry fortified wine, pale amber to brown in tint. The term sherry originally referred to wines made from grapes grown in the region of Jérez de la Frontera, Andalusia, ...

penicillin

(Encyclopedia)penicillin, any of a group of chemically similar substances obtained from molds of the genus Penicillium that were the first antibiotic agents to be used successfully in the treatment of bacterial inf...

amylase

(Encyclopedia)amylase ămˈəlāsˌ [key], enzyme having physiological, commercial, and historical significance, also called diastase. It is found in both plants and animals. Amylase was purified (1835) from malt b...

Mondavi, Robert Gerald

(Encyclopedia)Mondavi, Robert Gerald məndäˈvē [key], 1913–2008, American vintner who was in the forefront of establishing California as a major table-wine-producing region and wine as a staple of the American...

Pasteur, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Pasteur, Louis păstŭrˈ, Fr. lwē pästörˈ [key], 1822–95, French chemist. He taught at Dijon, Strasbourg, and Lille, and in Paris at the École normale supérieure and the Sorbonne (1867–89)....

woad

(Encyclopedia)woad, name for a perennial plant (Isatis tinctoria) of the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family) and for a blue dye obtained from its leaves. The plant is believed to be native to S Russ...

carbonated beverage

(Encyclopedia)carbonated beverage, an effervescent drink that releases carbon dioxide under conditions of normal atmospheric pressure. Carbonation may occur naturally in spring water that has absorbed carbon dioxid...

flax

(Encyclopedia)flax, common name for members of the Linaceae, a family of annual herbs, especially members of the genus Linum, and for the fiber obtained from such plants. The flax of commerce (several varieties of ...

enzyme

(Encyclopedia)enzyme, biological catalyst. The term enzyme comes from zymosis, the Greek word for fermentation, a process accomplished by yeast cells and long known to the brewing industry, which occupied the atten...

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