#E1523D

Acetobacter aceti bacteria are a widespread group of gram-negative, obligate aerobic rods which oxidize ethanol (alcohol) into ethanoic (acetic) acid. They occur mainly in sugary, acidic and/or alcoholic habitats and they play a positive, neutral, or detrimental role in foods and beverages. They are benign, non-pathogenic microorganisms ubiquitous in the environment, particularly in alcoholic ecological niches such as flowers, fruits, fruit flies, honey bees, and also in water and soil. They are generally found as spoilage organisms in alcoholic beverages. A. aceti has a long history of safe use in the fermentation industry for the production of acetic acid (vinegar) from alcohol. Acetic acid bacteria are classified into the genera Acetobacter, Gluconacetobacter, Gluconobacter, Acidomonas, and the recently described genus Asaia.

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky

Illustration from Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks” by Mark Buchanan

Dragon Fruit or Pitahaya

A Pitaya (pronounced /pɨˈtaɪ.ə/) or pitahaya (English pronunciation: /ˌpɪtəˈhaɪ.ə/) is the fruit of several cactus species, most importantly of the genus Hylocereus (sweet pitayas). These fruit are commonly known as dragon fruit – cf. Chinese huǒ lóng guǒ 火龍果/火龙果 “fire dragon fruit” and lóng zhū guǒ “dragon pearl fruit”, or Vietnamese thanh long (green dragon). Other vernacular names are strawberry pear or nanettikafruit.

via: Flickr

1. terra cibus no.5: table salt (45x Magnification)
2. terra cibus no.35: sun-dried tomato 3 (250x Magnification)
3. terra cibus no.32: shrimp tail (230x Magnification)
4. terra cibus no.24: Oreo (15x Magnification)

Terra Cibus ‘My Life with Science, Art and Food’ by Caren Alpert

What’s in our food? What’s the difference between a bird’s-eye view of a remote vegetable crop and a microscopic swath from a pineapple leaf? How distinct is a pile of table salt from miles and miles of icebergs?

I’ve made a living over the last decade capturing mostly recognizable images of food. Now I want to show what is there, but what we never actually see: landscapes, patterns and textures that ignite a completely different response from the viewer.

Photographs taken with electron microscopes have seized my interest because of their mystery and simultaneous familiarity. This medium deconstructs, abstracts, and reveals the ordinary in a riveting way. The closer the lens got, the more I saw food - and consumers of food - as part of a larger eco-system.

There’s so much rhetoric in our culture around food: food science, food journalism, food history, and food how-to. It is my hope that these photographs might transform our food obsession into a newfound closeness with what nourishes us.

Beef Chart (by upload)

Pork chart (by upload)