Examining the effects of various sugars and concentrations on yeast

Abstract

In our experiment we measured the cell reproduction rate of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), in different types of sugar and concentrations of sugar. C6H12O6, glucose, is the beginning reactants for fermentation, thus it is essential to the process. Our objective was to identify a sugar type and concentration that would most effectively fill this need and yield the highest number of yeast cells. Sucrose causes greater ethanol production than glucose because it has more Carbon and H2O than glucose (Schneider et al. 2016). Meaning that more of either would increase Carbon and H2O presence and likely increase ethanol production. Due to these results, we hypothesized that a higher concentrations of sugar would cause a greater increase in reproduction, as measured by cell count. Also that table Sugar (Sucrose) over other types of sugar would produce more cells. To measure this increase of yeast cells, we used a hemocytometer. We did a yeast cell count with the hemocytometer after mixing the yeast in the sugar solution. We incubated these yeast cultures for a week to determine which sugar type was best for yeast growth. The yeast cells increased most in table sugar, and at a concentration of 5%. These results supported our hypothesis: Yeast grows better in table sugar, and in a higher sugar concentrated growth medium.