Effects of sugar concentrations on ethanol fermantation of baker's yeast

Abstract

Baker’s yeast, or Saccharomyces cerevisiae, uses ethanol fermentation to produce ATP in the absence of oxygen.  The process of fermentation can be used in many processes such as beer brewing bread baking, and wine making.  The process of fermentation can be affected by factors including temperature, pH, and sugar concentration.  This experiment tested the effects of sugar concentration by comparing ethanol production at both 4% and 2% glucose concentration solutions.  This was performed by placing an ethanol probe in a 250 ml chamber that contains 2 ml of baker’s yeast and 80 ml of the solution.  Trials were measured and results stated that 4% glucose concentration allowed for the most ethanol production.  These results supported the hypothesis and states that greater sugar concentration allows for more ethanol production.