HOMEMADE FERMENTATION LAB

 
Purpose

Fermentation is generally defined as the conversion of carbohydrates to acids or alcohols. The

conversion of corn sugar (glucose) to ethanol by yeast under anaerobic conditions is the process
used to make the renewable transportation fuel, bioethanol.

A fermentor is operated by inoculating a complex sugar medium with a microorganism. This

microorganism is generally allowed to reproduce under aerobic conditions before the fermentor
is switched to anaerobic conditions to produce secondary metabolites such as ethanol.

Carbon sources such as glucose (C6H12O6) serve two purposes: material building blocks for
biosynthesis and for energy. In this experiment, yeast uses the glucose in three ways:

Energy C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy

Growth (anaerobic or aerobic) C6H12O6 (+ O2)  biomass
Secondary metabolites C6H12O6  2 ethanol + 2CO2

Original Observation:
The original substance was yellow in color, due to the yeast, smelt of yeast and was room
temperature to touch and had slight “fizz” inside the container.
After 3 days:
After 3 days, there was minimal carbon dioxide fizz, it smelt of mild alcohol, and sediment had
settled to the bottom of the mason jar.