Testing how different amounts of cinnamon powder inhibit the fermentation rate of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as Baker’s yeast, is used by many individuals and companies for baking, the production of alcoholic beverages and industrial ethanol, and biofuels. The fermentation of yeast assists in the breakdown of sugars in food and cells, and many different conditions can influence this fermentation like temperature, oxygen concentration, and different nutrients. In our experiment, we hypothesized that cinnamon would decrease yeast growth, and thus decrease carbon dioxide production, and that the more cinnamon powder added, the less the yeast would grow. To test our hypothesis, we compared the levels of carbon dioxide production when adding in two different amounts of ground cinnamon, 1 gram and 2 grams, to a mixture of sugar (sucrose), sodium phosphate, deionized water, and yeast. This experiment showed that the more cinnamon we used the less our number got, making  the yeast decrease in our experiment. Our results showed us that if we used more grams of cinnamon the more it affected the rate of fermentation. The 2 grams really slowed down the yeast growth. The discussion was that the more cinnamon powder we did the more it slowed down the yeast fermentation rate. In our discussion we talked about how we think there should be more studies done on how the cinnamon powder inhibits fermentation rates.