The Effect of Sucrose and Starch on Ethanol Production in Yeast

Abstract

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, commonly known as bakers/brewer’s yeast, is one of the most important microorganisms humans use industrially. This organism is responsible for the production of ethanol in alcoholic drinks and is the cause of bread dough rising. We tested the effect on ethanol production that starch and sucrose, or table sugar, has in yeast. After five trials of both starch and sucrose mixtures, we found that the solution with sucrose added produced a significantly higher amount of ethanol than the solution with starch added.