Lactic acid fermentation is carried out mainly by:
Lactic acid fermentation is dominated by Gram-positive, non-sporulating, aerotolerant anaerobes grouped as lactic acid bacteria, including Lactobacillus delbrueckii, Lactococcus lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus, Pediococcus and Leuconostoc. These organisms lack functional electron transport chains containing cytochromes and rely exclusively on fermentative metabolism for energy. In homolactic fermentation, nearly 90 percent of hexose is metabolized via Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway to two pyruvate molecules, which are immediately reduced by stereospecific NAD-dependent lactate dehydrogenase
Ref: Prescott's Microbiology 11th ed. Ch Lactic Acid Bacteria; NCERT Class XII Biology Microbes in Human Welfare.
