Objective: To determine the effect of different types of carbohydrates on yeast fermentation.

Materials:

1. Four transparent cups
2. Table sugar
3. Wheat flour
4. Corn Syrup
5. Ruler with mm scale
6. A t-spoon
7. Dry yeast
8. Warm water
9. Permanent marker

Method:

1. Gather the materials above
2. Use ruler and the help of a permanent marker to mark 2 inches from the bottom of each cup
3. Place the four cups in a straight line and label them from left to right as  
   1. Control
   1. Wheat flour
   1. Table sugar
   1. Corn syrup
4. Add 1 t-spoon of yeast to each cup
5. Add 1 t-spoon of wheat flour, 1 t-spoon of table sugar and 1 t-spoon of corn syrup to the corresponding cups
6. Add warm water to each cup until you reach the 2-inch mark you had drawn previously
7. Mix each for 30 seconds. Note: use a different spoon (or another mixing device) for each. Otherwise, rinse between mixing if you are using the same spoon
8. After 15 minutes, do a sniff check of each cup by putting your nose all the way up to the mouth of each cup
9. To the best of your ability, describe the smell of each. Find a suitable descriptive word or more to describe the smell
10. After 30 minutes, use your ruler to measure the height of the surface bubbles in mm (See image below).
11. Answer the following questions in the quiz section of Pilot.

Questions (Answer and Submit them in Pilot under Quizzes)

1. What is yeast? (1 point)
2. What was the purpose of the flour, sugar, and corn syrup in the experiment? (1 point)
3. What caused the bubbles in the experiment?
4. Describe the smell of each cup after 15 minutes? Explain the differences. (5 points)
5. What was the height of the bubbles in each cup after 30 minutes? Explain the differences. (5 points)
6. What was the function of the control? (1 point)
7. Define the word hypothesis (1 point)
8. Write a suitable hypothesis for this experiment? (5 points)

Courtney Simons

Administrator

Dr. Simons is a food science educator. He earned his bachelor’s degree in food science, and Ph.D. in cereal science at North Dakota State University.