Examine the Effect of Cellular Respiration in Yeast with Different Types
of Sugars
Nur Muhamad, Nur Anis Sarah, Nur Halimatun Saadiah, Nur Marsya Qaisara, Nur Nabilah,
Nur Sofiana Nadira
ABSTRACT
east respiration, a vital process where yeast converts sugars into energy while producing
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carbon dioxide, plays a significant role in our daily lives, especially in baking and brewing,
where it helps create the fluffy texture of bread and the bubbles in beer. The purpose ofthis
experimentistodeterminehowdifferenttypesofsugarsaffecttherateofrespirationinyeast.At
the same time, to investigate the optimal sugar type formaximumyeastrespirationorbubble
produced.We prepared solutions by weighing 8 g of each sugaranddissolvingitin12mLof
warm water, while maintainingatemperatureof40degreesCelsius.Afteradding2gofdried
yeast to each solution, we sealed the containers with aluminum foils to collect the carbon
dioxide released. The initial and final bubble lengths were recorded after 10 minutes. The
findingrevealedthatglucoseresultedinthemostvigorousyeastrespirationwithanincreaseof
23cm³,generatingthehighestnumberofbubblesproduced,followedbysucrose,fructose,and
lactose, whichproducedfewerbubbles,respectively.Thisdemonstratesthevaryingimpactsof
different sugars on yeast respiration, offering valuable insights for fermentation in various
applications.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
ellular respiration is a set of metabolic reactions that take place inthecellsoforganismsto
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convertbiochemicalenergyfromnutrientsintoenergyorATP.Thereactionworkseitherinthe
presence of oxygen that iscalledaerobicrespirationorintheabsenceofoxygenthatiscalled
anaerobic respiration (Libretexts, 2021).
Yeastfermentationisananaerobicprocessthatoccursintheabsenceofoxygen.Itwillbreak
d ownorganicmolecules,suchassugars,intoethylalcoholandcarbondioxidethatiscarriedout
by yeast. During fermentation, sugar undergoes a process of glycolysis to produce pyruvate
molecules and 2 net ATP (Libretexts, 2023).
I nthisexperiment,weusefourtypesofsugarwhichisglucose,fructoseasamonosaccharides
while sucrose and lactose as disaccharides. Yeast can metabolize monosaccharides more
rapidly than disaccharides. So sucrose and lactose must be broken down into its base by the
yeastbeforeitcanbeusedinfermentation.Thus,wepredictedthattheglucosewillresultinthe
highest rate of fermentationfollowedbyfructose,sucroseandlactose.Wehypothesizethatthe
rateoffermentationwilldecreaseasthesugarchangesfrommonosaccharidestodisaccharides.
Therefore the objectives of this study are:
1 ) T o determine how different types of sugars affect the rate of respiration in yeast.
2) To investigate the optimal sugar type for maximum yeast respiration or bubble produced
2.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS
A. Preparing Sugar and Yeast Solution
ostarttheexperiment,8gofeachtypeofsugarwasweighedandplacedintoseparate,labeled
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measuringcylinders.Next,12mLofwarmwaterwasaddedtoeachcylinder,andthemixtures
werestirreduntilthesugarcompletelydissolved,ensuringthatthewatertemperatureremained
at40degreesCelsiusasmeasuredbyathermometer.Then,2gofdriedyeastwasweighedand
added to each sugar solution, followed by thorough stirringtocombine.Thesamestepswere
repeatedforeachtypeofsugar.Thetopsofthemeasuringcylindersweresealedwithaluminum
foil to capture the carbon dioxide produced.
B. Determine Optimum Sugar Type for Yeast Respiration
fterallowingsometimeforbubblestoform,theinitiallengthsofthebubbleswererecorded,
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and the final lengths were measured and recorded after 10 minutes.
3.0 RESULTS
A. Determine Optimum Sugar Type for Yeast Respiration
our different types of sugar showed that as the cell respiration rate of yeast increases, the
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lengthofbubblesinthemeasuringcylindersalsoincrease.After10minutes,thebiggestlength
of bubbles recorded is 2.3 centimeterswhenthetypeofsugarisglucose,followedbysucrose
whichis2.1centimetersandfructosewith1.8centimeters.However,nobubbleswereobserved
inthecylindercontaininglactose.ThedetailedobservationoftheexperimentisshowninTable
1 below. Figure 1 showed the rate of respiration per minute for each type of sugar.
Table 1Length of bubbles released in 10 minutes according to different types of sugar.
Types of sugar I nitial volume F
inal volume V
olume ate
R of
(ml) (ml) difference respiration
(final-initial) (cm3/ min)
Glucose 37 60 23 2.3
Fructose 37 55 18 1.8
Lactose 36 36 0 0.0
Sucrose 36 57 21 2.1
Figure 1The rate of respiration for four different types of sugar
4.0 DISCUSSION
uring respiration, yeast breaks downsugarsintoenergytopowercellularreactions,whichis
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essentialforvariousmetabolicprocesses.Yeastcanmetabolizesugarintwoways,aerobically,
with the aid of oxygen, or anaerobically, without oxygen (Solomon, 2018). In theabsenceof
oxygen,yeastconvertssugarsintoalcoholandcarbondioxideasby-productsthroughaprocess
calledanaerobicfermentation.Inthisexperiment,wewilltesthowdifferentsugarsaffectyeast
fermentation and it can be determined by measuring the volume of carbondioxideproduced.
Two of the sugars (glucose andfructose)aremonosaccharides,orsimplesugarsandtheother
two (sucrose and lactose) are disaccharides that are each made up of two simple sugars.
lucose ferments fastest and most completely in yeast compared to the other three sugars
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becauseglucoseisamonosaccharide.Itdoesnothavetobebrokendownduringfermentation.
Thesmallsizeandsimplicityofthechemicalstructuremakethismoleculeeasilytakenupand
utilized by yeast cells. According to Lagunas R. (1993), all fermentative yeasts examined
showed catabolite repressionofthehigh-affinityglucoseuptake,whichallowsfermentationto
occur faster with glucose. This makes yeast rate of respiration with glucose the highest
compared to other sugars. Once inside the yeast cell, glucose does not undergo any further
breakdown before entering the glycolysispathwaytogenerateenergy.Thisprocessallowsthe
bacteria to quickly produce energy and ferment products. There are some specific glucose
transporters that are in the cell membrane of yeast cells which can actively follow and enter
around the cell. These transporters preferentially take up glucose rather than fructose.
eastcantransportfructoseintothecell,butthetransportersforfructosearenotasefficientas
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glucose, which means the uptake will be slower than glucose. This is because the transport
system’s affinity forfructoseisnotashighasglucose.Oncefructoseentersthecell,itwillbe
converted to fructose-6-phosphate first before undergoing glycolysis (Nelson, 2001), unlike
glucose that can enter the process directly. This resulted inalowerrateofyeastfermentation
withfructoseduetosloweruptake,andinefficientenzymaticprocessingleadingtolengthyATP
production.
issimilartomonosaccharidesthatcanbeuseddirectlybyyeastinfermentation,disaccharides
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mustbebrokendowntotheircomponentmonosaccharidesbytheyeastbeforethefermentation
can occur. Lactose is a disaccharide sugar composed of glucose and galactose that must be
broken down by lactase. Yeast, which is S. cerevisiae that we usedinthisexperimentcannot
ferment lactose because it lacks the enzyme β-galactosidase (Nevoigt, 2008). This enzyme is
necessary for yeast to properly use lactose as a food source, which results in limited
fermentation when lactose is present. This explains why no reaction occurs when lactose is
added to the yeast solution. There is no change in volume because carbon dioxide cannotbe
produced if lactose is not utilized by yeast. Besides that, theabsenceofatransportsystemto
take up lactose directly in yeastalsoillustrateswhyyeastcannotfermentlactose(PedroM.R,
2010). This resulted in zero rate of yeast fermentation happening with lactose in this
experiment.
n the other hand,Sucroseisadisaccharidecomposedoflinkedglucoseandfructose.Unlike
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lactose,sucrosecanbefermentedbyyeastduetothepresenceof theenzymesecretedinvertase
or also known as sucrase. Sucrose will be hydrolysed in the periplasmic space by sucrase
(Lagunas, 1993) to break it down into its monosaccharide components.Afterthat, yeastwill
takeuptheglucoseandfructoseproduced,inordertometabolizeitviaglycolysis.Thisreaction
will release energy andcarbondioxide.Thevolumeofcarbondioxideproducedisthehighest
after glucose, because glucose is a monosaccharide of sucrosethathasbeenstatedtoferment
much faster than fructose as explained above.
5.0 CONCLUSION
icroorganismssuchasfungineedsimplesourcesofnutrientssuchassugarssothattheycan
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survive. This experiment concluded that yeast have different rates of respiration for different
types of sugar. It is also concluded that glucose provides the highestrateofrespirationwhile
lactose has no effect on themicroorganismsinceitdoesnothavetheenzymelactasetobreak
down lactose into smaller molecules. For future experiments, it is suggested to use the same
amount of sugar solutionsandyeast.Thenextexperimentalsorequiresreadingthemeasuring
cylinder reading more accurately.
REFERENCES
Libretexts. (2023, July 12).1.8: respiration and fermentation. Biology LibreTexts.
Libretexts. (2021, December 23). 9.4: An overview of Cellular Respiration. Biology
LibreTexts.
Eldra P. Solomon, Charles E. Martin, Diana W. Martin,LindaR.Berg.(2018). Biology11th
Edition.How Cells Make ATP: Energy-Releasing Pathways
DavidL.Nelson,MichaelM.Cox(2001).LehningerPrinciplesofBiochemistry.(4thEdition).
Glycolysis, Gluconeogenesis, and the Pentose Phosphate Pathway
Rosario Lagunas. (1993). Federation of European Microbiological Societies 00273. Sugar
transport in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.pg. 234-238.
PedroM.R.,Guimarães,JoséA.,Teixeira,LucíliaDomingues.(2010).Fermentationoflactose
to bio-ethanol by yeasts as part of integrated solutions for the valorization of cheese whey.
Biotechnology Advances, 28(3), 375-384.
APPENDIX B
Determine optimum sugar type for yeast fermentation
