Effect of Sugars on the Rate of Ethanol Production During Anaerobic Respiration of Yeast

Abstract

Fermentation is a form of anaerobic cellular respiration where yeast breaks down sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This experiment tests why some cells respire at different rates than others. We hypothesized that disaccharides will produce less ethanol because it takes longer to break down the bond structure during anaerobic respiration. To test this hypothesis, we measured the amount of ethanol production, a byproduct, when yeast was combined with sucrose which is a disaccharide and glucose which is a monosaccharide, and raw honey, a mix of monosaccharides glucose and fructose. Our experiment found that there was not a significant statistical difference between the rate of ethanol production during fermentation of yeast and the tested sugars. We think our findings could be used in the alcohol industry to make production of ethanol more efficient by using different sugars during the fermentation process.