Expert: Walter Hintz - 2/11/2007

Question
I am curious why putting beans in water leads to a growth of bacteria. It seems strange to me. Is the bacteria in the beans and then somehow released? What is the difference between bean infusions and hay infusions? Can other things be put in water and spawn bacteria? I don't understand how it works.

Answer
 Hi Deanna;
It does seem remarkable doesn't it?  Anton Leeuwenhoek the inventor of the microscope made a bean infusion and saw a lot of small swimming organisms he called animalcules.  What they really were were bacteria most of which belong to the Genus Bacillus.  The common one is Bacillus subtilis.  This germ is a spore former and it is literally every place: in the air and water, on all surfaces, on your skin and even on dried beans.
 When the beans are soaked in water the spores germinate and we have an infusion.  The Bacillus we see are the descendents of those he saw in the 1500's.
 You can develop infusions from other vegetable products but beans provide the best nutrient material for bacteria.  Hay infusions not only grow bacteria but all kinds of protozoa as well, again due to spores in the hay.