I have been taught that yeast can act only on simple sugars (monosaccharides) and breaks them down into ethanol and CO2
I also know that yeast can break down maltose (disaccharide) and maltotriose (trisaccharide) using maltase from its enzyme complex (zymase) into monosaccharides of glucose and then ferments the same.
My question is whether yeast can directly ferment maltose and maltriose WITHOUT first breaking them down into glucose? If so how is it done - enzymatically and what is the chemical equation