Effects of Sugar Concentration on Fermentation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Yeast convert sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide through the process of fermentation. The yeast we are studying, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, utilize sugar for energy and basic functions (French 2019). We hypothesized that the S. cerevisiae will have a faster rate of fermentation in the higher sugar concentrations. For our experiment, we tested four different sugar concentrations ranging from 2% to 5%. The yeast was placed in a biochamber with a respective concentration while the ethanol they produced was tracked. Through our experiment, we found that the yeast yielded the highest output of ethanol in the 5% sugar concentration. The over abundance of sugar in the higher concentration samples allowed the yeast to perform fermentation at a faster rate. More experimentation is still needed to examine how yeast perform in more variations in sugar concentrations and different variations in sugars.