ARTISANAL PRODUCTION OF ETHANOL WITH SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE IN AN INVESTIGATIVE APPROACH FOR ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

Abstract

A practical study of artisanal ethanol production was carried out with different brands of yeasts containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which are used for domestic and industrial use, in an investigative approach for elementary education, observing and evaluating at the end of the fermentation processes the performance of each yeast in the production of ethanol in a fair and equitable way, taking into account that all fermented broths went through the same storage conditions, where the same initial base (sugarcane juice) was used and received the same amount of daily feed, changing only the yeast in each of the broths. Also, two aspects of great importance for large-scale use were taken into consideration: the volume produced (the amount of ethanol obtained in the processing of the broth in ml) and purity of the sample (the percentage % of ethanol in the volume produced). Demonstrating positive results in the five fermentations, all producing good quality ethanol with a similar degree of purity of 70% with satisfactory results, both in the practical and scientific character as well as in the pedagogical with elementary school students, who were able to understand the process of a scientific study, participating at each stage, answering questions and offering suggestions for the methodological development of the work.