The Effect of Added Sucrose on Ethanol Production in Yeast (Saccharomyce cerevisiae)

Abstract

Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is a eukaryotic organism in the Fungi kingdom that is capable of producing ethanol through fermentation. We tested the effect on ethanol production in yeast by adding sucrose at increasing concentrations. In this experiment, we measured the ethanol production by using an ethanol probe at increasing levels of added sucrose. We used a stir bar and stir plate to mix our sucrose and yeast solution for 10 minutes while collecting ethanol levels. Our results showed that ethanol levels generally increased as sucrose concentrations increased. However, the ethanol levels dropped once we reached our maximum sucrose concentration. Our data mostly supported our hypothesis, because ethanol levels did increase as sucrose increased. The results of our experiment could benefit Acme Brewing and Baking (AB&B) in researching how to maximize growth rates in yeast.