Fermentation lab

Many of a cell's reactions and processes require energy to be sustained. Cellular respiration and fermentation processes are two main ways that cells gather energy in aerobic respiration. Aerobic respiration is a cell activity in which oxygen serves as the final electron acceptor. Both aerobic and anaerobic reactions begin with glycolysis. Glycolysis is the breakdown of glucose in the mitochondrion of a cell. During glycolysis, the carbon compound glucose is broken down to form two 3-carbon molecules known as pyruvic acid. As a result, glycolysis is a well-known ATP-producing mechanism. During fermentation, pyruvic acid gets converted into waste material with no more energy production. In glycolysis, only two molecules of ATP are produced per glucose molecule with no more molecule production at fermentation. Some common fermentation processes include alcohol fermentation and lactic acid fermentation. Both fermentation are anaerobic. Alcohol fermentation involve use of yeast and some bacteria kinds. End products of fermentation are carbon dioxide (CO2) gas and ethanol.

Yeast is a microbial enzyme with protein properties. Yeast activity in controlling enzyme activities is affected by food spices such as cinnamon in influence CO2 production rate during fermentation. The Purpose of these experiment was to investigate the effect of cinnamon on the rate of carbon dioxide production during fermentation. For the purpose of this experiment, spices and a control are used to evaluate the influence that an additive can have in fermentation process by yeast.

Hypothesis

The two spices (nutmeg and cinnamon) will exhibit an upward trend for the production of CO2 during the fermentation process.

The control will have no influence on the production of CO2

The addition of cinnamon will lead to great improvement in yeast activity.

Materials

Procedure/Method

The procedure and apparatus used are as shown in the lab manual.

Results

Table 1 below is summary of the cumulative carbon dioxide production during three different fermentation process.

Nutmeg

Control

Cinnamon

0 min

0.02

0

0.03

2 min

0.04

0

0.06

4 min

0.06

0

0.09

6 min

0.08

0

0.12

8 min

0.1

0

0.15

10 min

0.12

0

0.18

12 min

0.14

0

0.21

14 min

0.16

0

0.24

16 min

0.18

0

0.27

18 min

0.2

0

0.3

20 min

0.22

0

0.33

From the above table, a graph was plotted to give a visual representation of the trend taken by CO2 production as the result of the addition of the three additives.

Figure 1 below is a graphical representation of rate of CO2 production with influence of Cinnamon.

The graph above indicates the amount of CO2 produced as the result of the addition of cinnamon (spice) during the fermentation process. Three trials were carried out, as shown by the graph. Based on the graph, both of the two curves (for Cinnamon and Nutmeg) show a general increase in CO2 production against time during the fermentation process. However, the case is much different with the case of the control; it resulted to a flat straight line at 0 throughout the process. It is also worth noting that cinnamon had the highest production as compared to the rest of the additives, followed by nutmeg and finally the control.

Discussion

Primary objective of this laboratory experiment was to evaluate how Cinnamon influence the rate of Carbon dioxide production in a yeast fermentation. For all the four distinct trials, it was evident that cinnamon and nutmeg has a significant influence in the rate of Carbon dioxide production. In which case, this confirms the hypothesis that the spices (nutmeg and cinnamon) have a great influence in improving the ability of yeast to trigger production of CO2 during the fermentation process. Additionally, the graphical representation also insinuates that cinnamon witnesses the greatest enhancement activity than the rest of the spices; this also confirms the prediction made at the start of the laboratory. The results are in agreement with Christian and Vaclavik (530) assertion that “spices including cinnamon, chili powder, nutmeg…” works in enhancing the activity of yeast. The enhancement in yeast activity is as the result of the spices acting in the form of substrates associated with growth of microbes and production of toxin, besides the available nutrients in spices serve in stimulating microorganism’s growth and activities (biochemical). As aforementioned, yeast acts as the microorganism and hence validating the influence of the presence of the two spices during the fermentation process.

For future studies, a larger sample size should be used to avoid any cases of errors. The larger sample sizes in this case can be achieved by making use of longer time intervals during the process. These intervals help in giving a consistent value for the calculated mean rate of change.

Work cited

Vaclavik, V., & Christian, E. Essentials of Food Science. 2008, p. 530. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-69940-0