Go Bananas: The effect of banana supplements on ethanol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Baker’s yeast undergoes fermentation and produces ethanol. This is a process of cellular respiration which includes the breakdown in sugars resulting in ATP. Sugars are one of many outside factors that has an effect on the ethanol production. We chose three different banana supplements, Barnana banana chip, mashed banana, and mashed banana peel, to see which one would maximize ethanol production. We hypothesized that the Barnana banana chips will produce the most ethanol due to the extra coating of sugar. Using the setup found in French we made a biochamber with growth media and added one of our banana supplements to it. We then added our Baker’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using an ethanol probe and a stir plate, each trial was conducted for fifteen minutes. Each supplement increased ethanol production when their mass increased. The Barnana banana chips had the highest amount of ethanol produced. Our results support our hypothesis but for future experiments studying this, more trials for each supplement and gram would be needed. When doing background research for our study, resources were limited indicating our experiment is novel.