Yeast Produced the Most Ethanol in Slightly Acidic Environments

Abstract

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a strain of yeast used in brewing, baking and the making of biofuels. Numerous factors can affect the growth of yeast and we looked at pH specifically. We hypothesized that yeast would grow and produce the most ethanol in a slightly acidic, optimum, pH environment because we think the availability of slightly more protons flowing inside the membrane will generate more action within the cell. To test our hypothesis, we grew yeast cultures in different pH levels and measured the production of ethanol. Our results showed us that our yeast had a higher production of ethanol in a slightly acidic environment which we believe to be the optimum pH.