The Effect That Structure in Monosaccharides and Disaccharides Has on Fermentation and the Production of Ethanol

Abstract

Baker’s yeast is a product used internationally by companies for biofuels and baking. When yeast is combined with various sugars, the yeast has the ability to produce ethanol through fermentation. The desire to perform this experiment was to determine if less complex sugars would produce more ethanol in a short time period. We used monosaccharides, which are the most basic unit of carbohydrates, and disaccharides, which are two monosaccharides bonded together combines with yeast to produce ethanol. In our experiment, we used the following sugars: glucose, fructose, sucrose, and maltose. Three trials of fifteen minutes were used for testing each sugar. In our experiment, we saw that monosaccharides produced more ethanol in a short time period. By performing this experiment, we hoped to gain a better understanding of ethanol production for the purpose of biofuel production and use in bakeries.