CO2 Output of Yeast in the Presence of Starch and Sucrose

Abstract

Yeast has been an integral part of bread making for many years and has recently been the subject of many biofuel companies. Acme Brewing and Baking is looking into the properties of yeast and how different carbohydrates affect ethanol and CO₂ production. We were interested in the effects of starch compared to sucrose. We hypothesized that the addition of starch will result in a lower CO₂ output compared to sucrose because we believe that the yeast will breakdown sucrose faster. Using CO₂ measurements to estimate yeast activity, we tested how starch affects yeast behavior. Throughout our experiment, we discovered that yeast activity increased in the presence of sucrose compared to the presence of starch. The experimental group containing 10% concentration of starch produced higher amounts of CO₂ than the 5% concentration. Previous studies found similar results to our experiment, adding support to our hypothesis.