Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 3.3: S
OURCE
: P
INTO
, “I
NTRODUCTION TO
E
FFECTIVE
M
ICROORGANISMS
(EM)”
The consortium of microbes in EM is very powerful, and lactic acid bacteria play a key role.
Crucially, without them there would not be any fermentation. A homebrewer can take advantage
of the beneficial properties of lactic acid bacteria by culturing their own LAB serum (more on this
later). Such homemade serums are pure lactic acid bacteria, so they lack the benefits the other mi-
crobes in the consortium provide, but they can provide some uses on its own. But in the EM con-
sortium, LAB are just one of the three main components, yeast being another one.
Yeast
Yeasts are single-cell fungi that are found everywhere; they are in the air, the soil, on plants, and on
you. Yeasts decompose sugars such as monosaccharides and polysaccharides by secreting enzymes
that break down the organic matter into a form that the yeast cells can then absorb back into their
bodiesthroughthecellswalls.Duringthedecompositionprocess,yeastsproducevariousbeneficial
by-products such as vitamins, hormones, and amino acids.
Yeast synthesize antimicrobial and other useful substances required for plant growth from
amino acids and sugars secreted by phototrophic bacteria, organic matter and plant roots.
Thebioactivesubstancessuchashormonesandenzymesproducedbyyeastspromoteactive
cellandrootdivision.Thesesecretionsarealsousefulsubstratesforeffectivemicrobessuch
as lactic acid bacteria and actinomyces.
— SCD Probiotics, “SCD Probiotics Inside”
Commercially available compost starters or compost activators often contain yeast in the form
of
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
.
