In early December, another event as part of the Student Academy on the topic of “Fermentation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae”took place in the Bioprocess Engineering and Microbiology laboratories at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. The students, who had traveled from various high schools (Löbau, Bautzen, Hoyerswerda, Zittau, Wilthen) in the area covered by the Saxon Education Agency’s Bautzen Regional Office, were able to carry out the fermentation of baker’s yeast themselves. As part of the experiment, the participants commissioned a bioreactor (fermenter) and observed the growth of the yeast while varying the process conditions. In conjunction with the experiment, the participants were able to determine the concentration of microorganisms using various analyses based on samples they had collected themselves, and to assess the vitality of the cells themselves through fluorescence microscopy following prior staining. Furthermore, the participants performed chemical analyses themselves using a colorimetric reaction ( ) to determine glucose levels. The students gained insight into everyday laboratory work, preparing their own culture media, creating dilution series, and trying their hand at pipetting, centrifuging, and measuring absorbance. The necessary knowledge was imparted step by step by the supervising university staff on site, who also answered numerous questions. A light snack served during a pleasant discussion rounded out the event, making it a great success.
Contact:
Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences
Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences
Department of Biotechnology
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Toni Baloun
t.baloun@hszg.de