Is Yeast Alive?

Sofia Savas, Amber Strickland, Alex Correa, Eliseo Mendoza

Purpose: The purpose of this experiment is to discover the properties of yeast and find out if yeast is a living organism or not. Background: Yeast is a single celled fungi used mostly in baking, brewing, and winemaking. It grows asexually by budding and reproduces sexually. In grocery stores and places where yeast is commercially sold, it is dry and needs to be reactivated before usage. There are over 1500 different species of yeasts. It grows and lives in liquid. The scientific name for yeast is Saccharomyces cerevisiae or sugar eating fungus. The cells in yeast are egg-shaped and can only be seen with a microscope. These cells digest food to obtain energy for growth. Although any food that contains sugar, which is most foods works, it prefers pure sugar. Ancient Romans discovered that when you remove the moisture in yeast by drying it in the sun, it can be reactivated by adding warm water and sugar. When warm water is added, it is very important to check the type of yeast being used and look at the correct temperature of water that needs to be used. Yeast is a living organism, and if water too hot is used, the yeast will be killed. If the water is too cool, it takes more time to develop the correct texture and best flavor. Ideal temperatures of water varies between different types of yeasts. The process called alcohol fermentation is how yeast is used in brewing and winemaking. It produces carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. These products are released by yeast cells into the dough. In baking, the dough rises when the yeast ferments the sugars available from flour or added sugars. The carbon dioxide cannot escape the dough because it is elastic and stretchy. Because of this expanding, the dough rises. The three different types of yeast used in this experiment were Fleischmanns Pizza Crust Yeast, Fleischmanns Active Dry Yeast, and Red Star Quick Rise Yeast. For the Pizza Crust Yeast, the instructions on the packet are to add salt, water, and flour, then mix and knead and press into pizza crust shape. This particular type of yeast does not rise. It is specially formulated with dough relaxers that keep the dough from pulling or snapping back. For the pizza crust yeast, the water added to it should be 120-130 degrees. This is the highest temperature out of all three of the different yeasts. The next type, Fleischmanns Active Dry Yeast, is the original Fleischmanns yeast and is highly stable and valued for its consistent performance. The ideal water temperature, unlike the Pizza Crust Yeast, is 100110 degrees. The instructions on the packet say to dissolve the yeast in cup of 100-110 degrees water. Next, add the dissolved yeast to other ingredients. For most doughs, the instructions say to knead, let rise until double, shape, let rise until double, and lastly bake. The last type of yeast we used, Red Stars Quick Rise Yeast, is a type of cake yeast in a semi-dormant state. There is no rehydration required for this type. The drying process in the manufacturing reduces moisture content - the Quick Dry Yeast has a longer shelf life than many other types or brands of yeasts. This type shortens the rise time in traditional baking. It is designed for direct mixing with other dry ingredients. The ideal water temperature is 110-115 degrees, right in the middle of the Pizza Crust Yeast and the Active Dry Yeast. Hypothesis: If yeast is fed sugar, it will create CO2 according to the amount of brown sugar it is given.reword include other IV then pick one

Independent Variable: The sugars are the independent variables. Dependent Variable: The growth of the balloon and the gas it produces when the yeast is fed sugar is the dependent variable. Control Group: The control group is the tube with just the yeast and water. Experimental Group: The experimental group is the test tube with yeast and a sugar variable. Constants = ??

Procedure: 1. Set up four tubes in the test rack. 2. Label each tube with a number 1-4. Test tubes 1 and 2 will both have yeast, sugar, and water. Test tubes 3 and 4 will have both will both have yeast and water, with no sugar. 3. Add warm water to each test tube up to the first fill line 4. Add sugar to tubes 1 and 2 until the water rises to the second fill line. 5. Now carefully add yeast to each tube until the water rises to the third fill line. 6. Cover the opening of each tube with a balloon to catch any gas that is formed. 7. Place your finger on the opening of the tube and shake vigorously. 8. Observe what happens to each tube and what happens to the balloon. 9. Collect and analyze data from results of each test tube.

DATA: Tube number & products in tube Test tube 1 Coke Red Star Yeast Test tube 2 Tang Fleischmann's Yeast Test tube 3 Sugar Added Jell-o Pizza Yeast Test tube 4 Yeast Test tube 5 Sugar free Jello Active dry Yeast Test tube 6 Raw sugar Active dry Yeast Test tube 7 Kool-aid Active dry Yeast Test tube 8 Protein Shake nothing has happened nothing has happened little to nothing has happened the balloon is full nothing happened slightly rising slightly rising nothing little to nothing has happened filling slightly; yeast rising yeast is over the top. Balloon is very full. nothing happened nothing happened nothing happened rising slightly nothing happened nothing happened nothing happened nothing happened nothing happened very slightly filled full enough to bust full enough to bust nothing happened slightly filled

0 minutes 4 minutes

8 minutes

12 minutes

no effect after mixing

balloon filled

second air bubble formed Filling nicely very full

Nearly going to blow up. Very filled. ready to bust

balloon is filled

Red Star Yeast Test tube 9 Pancake mix Red Star Yeast nothing has happened the balloon is filled well the balloon has drooped; still filled well. the balloon has rose again; well filled.

Conclusion:

In our experiment, we took various yeasts, mixed them with warm water and various foods for the yeast to consume, and tracked how different kinds of yeasts responded to different kinds of food. Our results are included in this report, youve more than likely already seen them, but to sum it up, the Coca Cola and Red Star yeast combination had the highest reaction rate in our particular experiment. Another group conducting the same experiment with the same variables may have gotten totally different results, unfortunately our controls cannot always be 100% identical. There were many other successful and unsuccessful trials that are also tracked prior to this, as well as photos that can are shown directly after this. In my personal opinion, I dont feel the lab itself perfectly demonstrates the question that is presented to us the beginning. The question that our experiment was supposed to solve was Is Yeast Alive?. Granted, we did perfectly learn that yeast can consume and utilize energy, but there is more to life than just the consumption and exertion of energy. Six more properties are left completely unaccounted for, for all we know these little guys may be able to eat all they want, but they have no means of reproduction, no internal evidence of homeostasis, etc. So in terms of the question it asks, the lab itself only answers about 1/7th of what needs to be answered. Had the underlying question been tweaked, then this lab could be viewed as successful. This lab does however, demonstrate the yeasts ability to intake and expense energy quite well. Going into this, we already had a bit of prior knowledge on the topic, so our beginning hypothesis was just as such: The yeast will consume the foods, and fill the balloon with carbon dioxide (we determined since us humans exhaled carbon dioxide that so would the yeast) at all different rates depending on the variables that we interchanged throughout. After conducting the lab, we came to realize our hypothesis was pretty much spot on. Overall, this lab was a good first experience for me on actual experimentation. It didnt completely answer the prompted question, but the seventh that was answered, was answered quite nicely. It was nice having the freedom to feed the yeast whatever we pleased, and the actual freedom we were given in the lab itself.

Photos:

Top Left: Large blue- Coca Cola; Red Star Active Dry Yeast Top Middle: Red- (sugar free) Jell-o; Fleischmanns Pizza Crust Yeast. Green- Purple Kool Aid; Fleischmanns Active Dry Yeast. Yellow: Protein Powder; Red Star Active Dry Yeast. Top Right: Light Blue- Tang; Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast. Orange- Sugar Added Jell-o; Fleischmanns Pizza Crust Yeast.

Sources (for background):

http://wiki.yeastgenome.org/index.php/What_are_yeast%3F http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2Fb106654 http://byo.com/stories/issue/item/62-7-fascinating-facts-about-yeast http://www.pizzacrustyeast.com/faq.html http://www.breadworld.com/ http://www.redstaryeast.com/products/red-star%C2%AE/red-star%C2%AE-quickrise-yeast http://www.redstaryeast.com/science-yeast/what-yeast