The Effect of Sucrose Concentration on Ethanol Production during Fermentation Abstract

Yeast can be used to produce ethanol through fermentation process. In our experiment, we studied the effects of sucrose concentration on ethanol production of Baker’s yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ). The aim of this experiment is to figure out how to maximize ethanol production of yeast which could be used as potential biofuels. We increased the sucrose concentration from 2% to 20%, and determined the ethanol production, respectively. Our results showed that ethanol production increased as the sucrose concentration increased. The findings indicated that sucrose is a suitable sugar for enhancing yeast growth and its concentration is an important factor that affects ethanol production. Therefore, our results supported our hypothesis.