Greater Fermentation

Caleb Campbell

Larger Amounts of Sugar Result In Greater Fermentation Rates

Introduction:
This experiment was conducted to find out if using larger amounts of sugar in a water-yeast solution would cause higher rates of fermentation. Fermentation is an anaerobic (without oxygen) cellular process in which organic foods are converted into simpler compounds, and chemical energy
(ATP) is produced (Biology-Online.org, 2008). Fermentation is a natural occurring process that humans have used and controlled the process to make everyday products such as bread, vinegar and alcohol produced (Biology-Online.org, 2008). Before oxygen was in a high concentration rate in the atmosphere, fermentation is believed to be the ancient primary means of energy production
Materials and Method:
The experiment was started by adding 10ml of the water-yeast solution to each fermentation tube. There were 12 fermentation tubes that needed 10ml of the solution. Then, 3 grams of Sucrose were added to the positive control fermentation tubes. For two of the fermentation tubes, 1 gram of
Truvia was added, and for another two fermentation tubes, there was 2 grams of Truvia added. Then, 3 grams of Truvia were added into two more tubes and 4 grams of Truvia into another two fermentation tubes. The last two fermentation tubes were left alone and no sugar was added to the tubes because they are the Negative Control. At this point, all of the fermentation tubes were ready to be tested. The way they were being tested was measuring the levels of CO2 production in the fermentation tubes. The higher the measurement of CO2, the higher the rate of fermentation, granted that the tubes with the highest rates of fermentation also had the largest amount of Truvia added to them. The results of fermentation rates were observed and recorded once 5ml of CO2 had been produced in the fermentation tube, or 45 minutes had elapsed during the
The fermentation rates are measured by the amount of CO2 produced, so the fermentation tube with the highest levels of CO2 had the highest fermentation rate as well. The positive control in the experiment is the only set of fermentation test tubes to reach 5ml of CO2 production within the 45 minute time limit. The rest of the test tubes did not produce much CO2 at all, if

any by the time the time limit was reached. Sucrose is real sugar compared to Truvia which is actually a sugar substitute which explains the spike in the positive control tubes.

Discussion:
The reason being that many of the tubes did not produce much CO2 at all is because of the type of sugar being used. Truvia is not true, natural sugar and fermentation is a natural process that has been taking place long before the existence of human beings. Considering this, it would make sense that little amounts of CO2 were produced when using a sugar substitute. Sucrose however, is sugar and it was used in the positive control variable making clear sense that the fermentation process works