Acetobacter

Acetobacter is a kind of bacteria. These bacteria are known by their ability to change alcohol to acetic acid in the presence of air. There are several species within this genus, and there are other bacteria that can form acetic acid under different conditions; but all of the Acetobacter are known by this ability.

Why Acetobacter is important

Acetobacter are important to people, because:

• they are used to make vinegar (intentionally converting the ethanol in the wine to acetic acid)
• they can destroy wine which it infects by producing big amounts of acetic acid or ethyl acetate.

Sometimes, Acetobacter is not wanted. It can be killed by adding preservatives like Sulfur dioxides, or by getting rid of the air when the wine is stored.