B.

Detection of CO2 evolved: effect on the rate of fermentation

a
b
c
Figure B. Resultd
of the balloon experiment, with yeast in: (a) distilled water, (b) lactose, (c)
sucrose, and (d) glucose
In the figure above, the balloons in the flask with yeast in sucrose (see B.c) and
the flask with yeast in glucose (see B.d) inflated. This is because yeasts feed on
carbohydrates, such as sugar and starch. Commonly used for baking, yeasts feed on
sugars and starches which is abundant in bread dough. They turn this food into energy
and release carbon dioxide gas as a result. This process is known as fermentation.
When active yeast has both sugar and oxygen available to it, it 'breathes' by a
process called aerobic respiration. In this reaction, yeast cells use sugar) and oxygen
(from the air) to produce energy. They also produce water and carbon dioxide (CO 2),
which is the same chemical process used by humans (Tamara, 2007). If no oxygen is
available, yeast will switch over to a second option a process called anaerobic
respiration. In this process, sugar is fermented to produce energy, carbon dioxide, and
ethanol. Since ethanol is a type of alcohol, which is toxic for yeast cells, anaerobic
respiration is a poor second option to aerobic respiration (Tamara, 2007).
During the experiment, glucoses balloon inflated first, then it was followed by the
sucrose. Though flask B.c has a sugar in it (lactose), it did not produce any gas, thus
the balloon not inflated.
Glucose, sucrose and lactose are all carbohydrates, simply said sugars. Of the
three sugars, glucose is the easiest one to metabolize to because it is a
monosaccharide. Through glycolysis and later in the reactions of the citric acid cycle,
glucose is oxidized to eventually form CO 2 and water, yielding energy (mostly in the
form of ATP) (Custer, 2000).
Yeast are able to utilize other sugars, although it prefers to utilize glucose. One
such example is sucrose, which is used in the experiment. The flask with sucrose also

produced gas and has inflated the balloon, though it happened after the flask with
glucose came first. Sucrose is a double sugar made of glucose and fructose linked
together. The enzyme to break that double sugar into single sugars is fairly
commonplace among living organisms, like yeast (Custer, 2000). Under slightly acidic
conditions, sucrose will break into the two single sugars automatically. The distilled
water used in dissolving the yeast must have given the setup its slightly acidic condition,
since The pH of distilled water is between 5.6 and 7 (EPA, 2016). Thus, sucrose breaks
down to glucose plus fructose, with glucose present and ready to be metabolized by the
yeast.
In the case of lactose, it is a double sugar made of glucose and galactose linked
together. That link is both strong and the enzyme necessary to break those bonds is not
present in yeast (Custer, 2000).

References:
Tamara, J. (2007). Yeast Gases. Retrieved
https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=763

on

8 th

April,

2016,

at

Custer, C. (2000). Re: Yeast Metabolism in fructose, lactose, glucose, and sucrose.
Retireved on 8th April 2016, at http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/200001/948574908.Bc.r.html
EPA. (2016). Acid Rain Experiments Experiment 1 Measuring pH. Retrieved 9th April
2016, at https://www3.epa.gov/acidrain/education/experiment1.html