The Effect of Sucrose Concentration on Ethanol Production in Baker’s Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisae)

Abstract

Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisae) is used for many different reasons, such as baking bread and alcoholic fermentation. Yeast is easily manipulated and can be used in many experiments to help manufacture enzymes and proteins. We hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between the amount of sucrose in the yeast mixture and the amount of ethanol produced. We conducted 3 trials for each sugar concentration. Our greatest percent of ethanol produced was when the yeast had 2% sugar concentration. In each trial of this concentration, the production increased, resulting in a rise in ethanol production. Therefore, 2% of sucrose is the most effective sucrose concentration for yeast ethanol production.