Yeast’s Sweet Tooth: Natural Sugars Result in Greater Ethanol Production in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae than Processed Sugars

Abstract

Fermentation is a form of anaerobic respiration that breaks down carbohydrates to produce energy and makes ethanol as a byproduct. The aim of this study was to determine how sugar type , natural vs. artificially processed, impacts the rate of ethanol production in the fermentation of yeast. This particular study addressed this in a unique way by comparing the rate of ethanol production between glucose and saccharine in search of a correlation in the data. In this experiment, a stir station was used to promote fermentation in a beaker containing yeast, water, and a sugar solution. Results from this study showed that the average rate of change in ethanol production when glucose was used was greater than the average rate of change in ethanol production when saccharine was used. This may be beneficial to producers of alcoholic beverages who are aiming to maximize efficiency in fermentation.