Electrochemical evaluation of the inhibitory effects of acetic acid on Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A mediated electrochemical method was proposed for toxic evaluation of acetic acid on S. cerevisiae AS.380, and menadione/ferricyanide was chosen as the mediator system. The variance in electrochemical response in the absence and presence of increasing concentrations of acetic acid were used to indicate the inhibitory effects of weak acid on the yeast. The inhibitory effects of acetic acid on glucose consumption during menadione mediated reduction of ferricyanide were also measured for comparison purpose. The relative limiting current and the glucose consumption were reduced by 64.5 % and 61%, respectively, in the presence of 4g/L acetic acid at pH 4.0. The results showed that the electrochemical method can provide us with an appropriate and convenient tool for cytotoxic evaluation.