Sedimentation rate of microfluidized sugarcane juice

Abstract

Sugarcane juice contains unstable particles that readily undergo agglomeration and sedimentation. In this work, microfluidization was used as a processing tool to generate a possible solution to the sedimentation problem in sugarcane juice for the first time. Stoke's law was used to determine the particle sedimentation rate. Experiments were devised to explore the majority of the pressure range of microfluidization (50–200 MPa) with variation in processing cycles (1–7). Particle size and apparent viscosity of sugarcane juice were determined. Microscopic analysis was also carried out to visualize the effect of microfluidization on the particles in the juice. Microfluidization in the pressure range of 50-150 MPa with less than 7 cycles of processing reduced the size of suspended juice particles successfully. Results revealed that 150 MPa pressure with 5 cycles was suitable for sugarcane juice processing as it generates the lowest particle size (~437 nm) and minimum particle sedimentation rate (4.91 × 10−2 mm/day).