Honey I grew the yeast! Honey’s effect on ethanol production on Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Fermentation is the process yeast use to make the energy needed for growth. Fermentation produces ATP for the yeast along with ethanol as a byproduct. Ethanol is an alcohol that is essential for the brewing process. Acme Brewing and Baking is interested in maximizing ethanol production and minimizing costs using Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Using different sources of sugar in yeast production is currently their area of interest. We chose to test the effect raw organic honey had on fermentation compared to glucose. We predicted that honey would increase ethanol production because it contains both glucose and fructose. We found that when compared to glucose alone, honey did in fact increase ethanol production in yeast.