Field Trip to Saraburi
In order to fulfill the requirement of the BT 3015 "Industrial Fermentation", senior students have to join the field trip to several provinces in Thailand. This would make the students understand the process involved in industrial fermentation beginning from the preparation of raw material through finished product. The first field trip was made on 20 July 2002 to Saraburi Province to observe the production of local traditional alcoholic beverages. The process of making 'Luk Paeng' (the starter culture of local Thai rice wine such as 'Khao Mak' and 'Ou'). The starter culture is composed of one or more known or unknown strains of micro-organisms that are added to assist in the fermentation process. It contains mold, yeast, rice, and herbs. The function of rice is to provide nutrient to the microorganisms, such as mold, to use the starch in rice to
produce sugar, while yeast uses sugar as a nutrient and ferments it to ethanol. The function of the herbs is to allow only certain microorganisms to grow in the fermentation system. The students enjoyed making 'Luk Paeng' and local-style lunch. It is hoped that after this trip, the students would experience Thai culture from studying local Thai rice wine.
