Sugar type does not affect ethanol production in yeast

Abstract

In this experiment, we are testing if different forms of sugar have an effect on yeast’s production of ethanol. Ethanol is produced through the fermentation that takes place due to the processing of sugar by yeast (Futrell et al 2016). We tested ethanol production rates in separate bio chambers with 2% rice sugar, dextrose, and corn sugar solutions. We used an ethanol probe to measure the production rate of ethanol in the bio chambers. Yeast is a unicellular eukaryotic organism that helps produce products such as bread by producing CO2 through aerobic respiration (French 2016). Because monosaccharides, or simple sugars, are more easily and quickly broken down by yeast, we hypothesize that the rice sugar and corn sugar will produce ethanol at lower rates than dextrose because the yeast will be able to metabolize dextrose faster because it is a monosaccharide.