Salty or Na: The effect of salt on ethanol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Emily West, Layni Thompson, Martessa Willis, Zoraida Uribe, Jay Walton

Abstract


Baker’s yeast is a commonly known house-hold item used for cooking bread and other foods. It is well known because of the process it undergoes to provide energy to make the bread rise; the process of fermentation. Fermentation is a process for yeast to expend its energy to produce its byproducts. Ethanol is commonly measured in yeast because it is a byproduct of fermentation. Through experimenting on the effect of salt in yeast bioethanol production, we hypothesize that Saccharomyces cerevisiae, commonly known as baker’s yeast, will decrease ethanol production when salt is added to the solution. We tested the control and experimental groups over a 30 minute trial period, and noticed that yeast produced more ethanol when in a higher salt concentration. Thus, it can be said that salt may have an inhibiting effect on factors which normally interfere with the process of fermentation in baker’s yeast.


Keywords


Yeast, Salt concentration, Bioethanol Production, Fermentation, Bakers yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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References


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