Juice Purification Research Articles

The impact of exopolysaccharides on the purification process – filtration, sedimentation and particle size distribution

Processing of frost-damaged beet remains a significant topical issue for the sugar industry. The growth of microbiological infections in frost-damaged beet leads to several changes in the chemical composition of beet. Microorganisms play a major role in the hydrolysis of sucrose and the production of various metabolites, especially exopolysaccharides. Exopolysaccharides in the raw juice disrupt in normal processing operations, especially purification. The paper shows how exopolysaccharides influence calcium-sludge particles’ size distribution, filtration, and sedimentation during juice purification. The research was conducted under laboratory conditions using standard dextran and exopolysaccharides extracted from degraded beet of different origins. Findings indicate that the natural exopolysaccharides extracted from the deteriorated sugar beet adversely impacted the purification process more strongly than dextran.

A neural network approach to predicting the quality indicators of the purification department of a sugar factory

The article proposes a model of the defecosaturation department of a sugar beet processing plant based on a neural network, which predicts the main indicators of the efficiency of diffusion juice purification. The predictive model allows you to adjust the operation mode of the department by analyzing the unmeasured qualitative indicator of the purification effect. The developed model also predicts the color of the semi-finished product, as well as the loss of sugar in the filter cake I and II saturation with an error of less than 5%. Unlike existing solutions, forecasting is performed in real time using a set of indicators of an automation system and an industrial laboratory. A predictive neural network model is an MLP universal for approximating non-linear complex functions with many variables. The model has 32 inputs, 4 outputs and one hidden layer with 23 neurons. The main technological variables from the automation system – temperatures, flow rates, pressure, pH in the apparatus, as well as from the industrial laboratory – alkalinity, SO content in the saturation gas will be fed into the network input. This allows to increase the informative support of the operator-technologist regarding the quality indicators of the enterprise without additional load on the industrial laboratory and without additional cost automatic quality devices.

Recovery of Succinic Acid-Rich Fraction from the Juice of Chaenomeles japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. Ex Spach by Ion Exchange Fractionation Resin

Abstract Succinic acid (SA) is one of the most demanded and widely used constituents for producing various healthcare and skincare products, biodegradable polymers, and food and feed additives. The present study was undertaken to establish the protocol for selective recovery of SA from a complex matrix of Japanese quince (JQ) (Chaenomeles japonica) fruit using ion-exchange fractionation resin DIAION™ UBK550 with negatively charged functional groups cross-linked with a styrene-divinylbenzene matrix. A second SA purification method was used for data comparison using either Supel™-Select HLB or Strata-X columns packed with a hydrophilic modified sty-rene-based polymer. The analysis of SA accomplished by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) using triple quadrupole mass selective detection (HPLC-ESI-TQ-MS/MS) revealed the presence of SA in the JQ juice without pretreatment, in the amount of 0.202 mg·100 ml–1. The use of sty-rene-based polymer Strata-X sorbent for purification of JQ juice led to an increase of 11.0% in the concentration of SA compared with the initial concentration of SA in JQ juice. On the other hand, after purification of JQ juice with Supel™-Select HLB, the concentration of desorbed SA in the eluate fraction was 7.8% lower compared to the initial concentration. The use of ion-exchange fractionation resin DIAION™ UBK550 for purification and concentration of JQ juice ensured up to 152.3 mg of SA in 100 ml–1 of syrup-like brown substance, which was much (754.4-fold) higher than that observed in JQ juice itself. All three sorbents ensured the complete removal of monoand disaccharides from the juice, as no signs of mono- and disaccharides were detected in the eluate fractions.

Cake and precoat filtration – Evaluating influences of increased backwash efficiency on cloth lifetime

In beet juice purification the greatest challenge is to evade a frequent blockage of the filter cloth during carbonation slurry filtration. Lenzing Filtration started an investigation on backwash efficiency of tubular pressure candle filters and how this affects the lifetime of filter cloth in carbonation slurry filtration. The patent pending CakeFil filter candle of Lenzing Filtration is made from a continuous casted structure, closed at the lower end with an on-welded plug and at the upper end with a connector to the filtrate chamber. After 85 backwashes under laboratory conditions the CakeFil technology had approx. 77% less residues compared to two different standard candle filters. Pilot-scale testing in a German sugar factory with carbonation slurry 1 confirmed the outstanding lab performance as the filter cloth of LENZING CakeFil endured the entire campaign of 71 days without any filter cloth change, whereas the standard candle filter clothes had to be changed four times and external washing had to be performed three times during the same period. Also the filtrate-quality analysis showed that the results were identical compared to existing candle filters quality.

Anionic bio-flocculants from sugarcane for purification of sucrose: An application of circular bioeconomy

In sugar production, polyacrylamide-based anionic flocculants are added for juice treatment, the main objective being to remove impurities that affect the quality of the sugar. However, if they remain in the final product, those polymers can present carcinogenic and neurotoxic actions besides contaminating the soils where the waste is discharged. To overcome this problem, the present study proposes, for the first time, natural flocculants based on cellulose obtained from sugarcane bagasse (residue from sugarcane processing) as substitutes for the flocculants based on polyacrylamide, normally used in sugar cane juice purification. Additionally, cellulose-based flocculants obtained from Acacia wood, developed in a previous study, have also been tested for sugar juice treatment. Acacia wood and sugarcane bagasse were first treated with a choline chloride/levulinic acid solution in a molar ratio of 1:2, at 160 °C, for 4 h. Subsequently, the cellulose-rich samples were modified by a two-stage process (oxidation with sodium periodate followed by reaction with sodium metabisulfite), and polyelectrolytes with different characteristics were produced. The final products obtained were characterized, and their performance in the treatment of sugarcane juice, at different concentrations (10, 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg kg−1), was evaluated and compared to the synthetic commercial flocculant (Flonex, based on polyacrylamide) usually used by the sugarcane industry in Brazil. The substitution of petrol-based flocculants by natural-based ones, obtained from sugarcane residues, is presented for the first time in this study, with very relevant performance of the new flocculants. Overall, it was possible to produce anionic flocculants, modifying the cellulose obtained from different raw materials, which showed good results in the purification of sucrose, when compared with the commercial polyacrylamide normally used. It is also important to stress that, for the first time, a residue from sugarcane industry could be used with success in the purification of the sugar juice itself, which constitutes a major novelty.

Low-Fouling Plate-and-Frame Ultrafiltration for Juice Clarification: Part 2—Module Design and Application

The purification and concentration of orange juice are crucial to remove undesirable materials, such as pectin, which is responsible for juice clouds; or limonene, which is responsible for bitter taste. Membrane-based juice clarification is preferred due to its capability to separate specific targeted molecules, while still maintaining the clarified juice’s nutritional content. In this study, a novel designed bench-scale plate-and-frame membrane module composed of low fouling cellulose acetate membrane sheets was manufactured to facilitate orange juice clarification. The experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of the developed module to be used for juice clarification. After incorporating the functional and structural design parameters, the final module had the following specifications: dimensions of 125 × 168 mm, an effective volume of 0.9–9.4 L, a total active membrane area of 1088 cm2, and a transmembrane pressure of 0.3–0.55 MPa. The results of the juice clarification show no difference in the value of pH, viscosity, total acid, water content, color L* (brightness), and color a* (reddish) of the feed, the permeate, and the retentate streams. The clarified juice had slightly higher total dissolved solids (°Brix), ash content, vitamin C, and color (b* yellowish). Overall, our findings demonstrated that the developed plate-and-frame module could effectively be used to clarify orange juice without altering the quality, i.e., reducing the nutritional contents.

Immobilization of Protease on Synthesized Beads of K-Carrageenan by Entrapment: its use in Commercial Activity like Juice Purification

In the present work immobilization of Protease enzyme on synthesized k-carrageenan beads by Entrapment method was done. K-carrageenan beads were synthesized in by proper method. Then protease was immobilized by Entrapment method. After immobilization process for further study, various parameters were optimized and carried out the comparison studies by using protease loaded glass beads. Furthermore, FTIR and SEM analysis were done to prove that the enzyme was immobilized on the support bead. In application protease of it was applied to purified the fruit juice i.e. Pineapple juice, watermelon juice and sugarcane juice. In addition, this study introduces a new achievement of the eco-friendly effect of immobilized enzyme, due to reuse full function of immobilized enzyme.

Purification of juices extracted from Stevia rebaudiana leaves by salt precipitation

Stevia rebaudiana is a perennial herbaceous plant, part of the Asteraceae family and native of Paraguay [1]. It has been cultivated in China and Southeast Asia for several decades [2] and more recently in France, in the Occitanie region. More commonly known as “Stevia”, it is a new source of natural sweetener, since it contains steviol glycosides with a sweet taste. The objective of the work carried out is to develop a method of purification of juice extracted from Stevia rebaudiana leaves, pre-purified by various membrane filtration operations, supplied by the company OVIATIS. The objective is to increase the purity of steviol glycosides in these juices, by precipitating impurities such as quinic acid. These juices initially have a purity of 23 ± 2.5 g of glycosides/100 g of dry matter (ie 23%). The tests presented in this study make it possible to assess the impact of the addition of ethanol, whether or not combined with the addition of potassium or calcium hydroxide. The addition of ethanol to the juices leads to an increase in purity and makes it possible to reach a value of 32 ± 3%. By combining the addition of ethanol with the addition of calcium hydroxide, a purity greater than 50% is obtained. Indeed, for a calcium hydroxide ratio of 0.06, the purity reached a level of 56 ± 5% during the test.

РОЗРОБКА БУФЕРІВ ДАНИХ НА ПРОГРАМОВАНИХ ЛОГІЧНИХ ІНТЕГРАЛЬНИХ СХЕМАХ

The need to intensify the extraction process using the influence of chemical reagents on beet chips was substantiated. The analysis of appli-cation of natural sorbents in food production technologies was carried out. The physical and chemical properties of zeolite were explored. The indicators that make it possible to apply natural zeolite for additional treatment of water and juices in sugar production were shown. The effectiveness of the use of natural zeolite for feed water treat-ment with the view to enhancing the technological quality of diffusive juice was determined. Experimental research revealed that feed water treatment with zeolite decreases the content of total iron, ammonium, and permanganate oxidation indicator. It was proved that microbial seeding of feed water and diffusive juice decreases in case of treatment with zeolite. It was established experimentally that the purification of diffu-sion juice occurs during zeolite application for feed water treatment. We determined the effectiveness of removal of macromolecular compounds, including dextran, from diffusive juice obtained during processing sugar beets of various technological quality with natural zeolite. It was shown that at the zeolite consumption of 0.1...0.4 % to the weight of beets, the content of high-molecular compounds and pectic substances in diffusive juice decreases by 30–40 %, and the content of dextran – by 20–40 %, respectively. During the zeolite treatment, an enhancement of the quality of purified juice and improvement of filtration and saturation proper-ties of defeco-saturated precipitate are observed. Thus, the average rate of sedimentation of the precipitate of juice of І carbonation S5 m, when using zeolite for feed water preparation increases by 10–50 % for the beet different technological quality. In the course of research, we designed the technique of zeolite application, which ensures a decrease in coloration, an increase in the purity of the cleared juice, enhancement of filtration and sedimentation properties of the precipitate of juice of I carbon-ation. High effectiveness of the proposed method is pronounced in processing raw materials of lowered quality. Thus, there are some grounds to claim the effectiveness of zeolite application to enhance the quality of diffusion juice and products in sugar production. Keywords: diffusion juice, dextran, sucrose extraction, purification of diffusion juice, zeolite.

Utilization of Sugar Beet Pulp as Biosorbent for Molassigenic Metal Ions: Kinetic Study of Batch Biosorption

The sugar industry is facing problems with high amount of molassigenic metal ions remained after the purification step in sugar juice. In this investigation the application of unmodified sugar beet pulp as a weak monofunctional cation-exchange biosorbent for molassigenic metal ions (Na+, K+ and Ca2+) removal from the alkalized sugar juice was studied. The batch biosorption experiments were performed at temperature (70 °C) and pH (10.5) of alkalized sugar juice similar to industrial conditions. The highest removal efficiency was noticed for divalent Ca2+ (30.2%), while monovalent Na+ and K+ ions were removed with 10.9 and 9.1% efficiency, respectively. Biosorption equilibrium was established in 90 min for all tested metals. Sugar beet pulp characterization from the perspective of cation-exhange material was conducted. The structure of the biosorbent and an insight of the functional groups were also characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The biosorption data were analyzed using four non-linear kinetic (pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and Elovich) and diffusion models (Weber-Morris). The time course data of biosorption processes fitted well to the pseudo-first and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models indicating ion-exchange and chemisorption as dominant mechanisms for metal ions removal from the alkalized juice. HNO3 as a desorption reagent showed the highest average molassigenic metal ions desorption efficiency (54.4%). Utilization of sugar beet biomass as cation-exchange material imposes as a potential solution for more successful sugar juice purification.

APPLE JUICE CLARIFIED BY THE POLYMERIC FLOCCULANTS

Based on the research, a innovative method for processing apple juice has been proposed, which consists in the use of safe polymeric flocculants – polyethylene oxide and hydrolyzed polyacrylamide, which can increase the speed and degree of transparency and purification of apple juice from heavy metals in conditions of its turbulent flow in channel, which is the gap between the stator with inlet and outlet pipes and the rotor kinematically connected to the electric motor. The mechanism of increasing the flocculating ability of flocculants under conditions of detected turbulent transparency of apple juice makes it possible to develop ways to improve the consumer properties of both the flocculant and apple juices during transparency. A comprehensive assessment of the quality of apple juice illuminated by hydrodynamically activated polyethylene oxide and hydrolyzed polyacrylamide was carried out, namely: the features of changes in mineral, vitamin, physical and chemical composition and safety, which together form the nutritional value and consumer properties of the product, were studied. The results of sensory and qualimetric analysis of apple juice clarified by activated flocculants indicate that when apple juices are illuminated with polyethylene oxide and hydrolyzed polyacrylamide, changes are observed primarily in transparency and color. The obtained quantitative data characterizing the physical and chemical composition of apple juice and the content of heavy metals in apple juice clarified with hydrodynamically activated polyethylene oxide and hydrolyzed polyacrylamide meet the requirements for apple juice producers. The research results allow us to conclude that polymeric flocculants polyethylene oxide and hydrolyzed polyacrylamide are effective reagents that can be used for deep purification of apple juices from heavy metals. Based on the obtained data characterizing the residual concentration of polyethylene oxide in apple juice treated with polyethylene oxide with hydrodynamic activation in a flocculator, it was concluded that the hydrodynamic activation of the flocculant reduces its residual concentration by more than 1.5–2 times.

Obtaining additional product from sugar beet

The possibility of intermediate products - yellow sugars - processing for obtaining additional products manufactured by the sugar industry is studied in this work. Their main disadvantage is the presence of a non-sugars film on the crystal surface. This film contains high molecular weight colouring agents and other compounds that have not been removed during the juice purification process. The objectives of this study were to select the optimal conditions for the affination purification of yellow sugar crystals, to determine its quality characteristics, and to assess the possibility of its application in food production. The use of yellow sugar melting as an affining solution was justified in the work. The affination process optimal parameters were selected with the mathematical modeling methods. The efficiency of mineral compounds and toxic elements removal in the process of affination was studied, the microbiological parameters of sugars were determined. It was found out that the affination process caused a decrease in the total microbial contamination and the amount of mucus-forming microflora, while thermophilic microorganisms, yeasts and moulds completely disappeared. Affinated yellow sugar contained less sucrose than white sugar did. It partially retained mineral and organic components of sugar beet, and this increased its demand. A product from affinated yellow sugar with the rosehip powder added was produced; rational conditions for its obtaining were selected within the framework of the study. The characteristics of this product were investigated by sensory, spectral and thermogravimetric analysis methods. It was found out that the rosehip powder added into the composition of the product based on affinated yellow sugar had a beneficial effect on its characteristics. The studies carried out allow us to conclude that affinated yellow sugar is possible to use as a raw material for obtaining new products.

AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR DRYING SUGAR PRODUCTION PULP

Sugar production is one of the most complex and energy-intensive. Conditions of high competition of modern reality bring to the fore such indicators as quality, energy consumption, cost. Such conditions dictate the need to apply the latest scientific advances in the automation of sugar production technologies. The automation of the sugar industry ensures high-quality, efficient operation of all technological sections of the sugar plant only through a comprehensive approach to solving this problem. One of the main problems in creating the ACS TP of the sugar industry is the stabilization of the flow line of the main product of sugar technology, as well as maintaining optimal levels of product stock in intermediate (buffer) collections of sugar technology. The technological complex of the sugar industry enterprise consists of areas of procurement, storage, preparation of raw materials for processing, departments of juice production, purification of diffusion juice, areas of finished product production, storage and auxiliary production. Increasing productivity in sugar factories, developing new technology to improve quality, increase the efficiency of sugar industries that require renewal, as well as improving management systems using modern measuring and automation tools. Automation of technological processes with the use of automated complexes, machines, mechanisms, modern means of automation and computer technology is one of the main directions of scientific and technological progress in all sectors of the economy. The analysis and development of the automated system of dispatch control of the drying process of pulp in sugar production is carried out in the work. The system is based on SCADA - Trace Mode 5.10 system manufactured by AdAstra. The result is a fully functional system that can be used in sugar production and the advantage of its implementation is to increase efficiency compared to existing systems.

Filtration principles and troubleshooting

Removal of the insoluble solids from the carbonatation juices in juice purification is often the bottle-neck in the beet slicing capacity of a beet sugar factory. It is crucial to produce good filterable precipitates in the different steps of juice purification, which in fact depends on the achieved particle size and particle size distribution of the formed precipitates. The principle of filtration will be described wherein permeability and thickness of the filter cake, as well as the juice viscosity are the most important parameters. The most likely causes of problems in the filtration of the 1st carbonatation, respectively 2nd carbonatation slurry will be presented. In addition, recommendations are given on how filtration problems can be solved. Some alternative ways of processing in order to get around particular filtration problems will be mentioned too.

Principles of juice purification

The raw juice as obtained by juice extraction of sugar beet cossettes contains dissolved and insoluble impurities (nonsugars) which need to be removed as much as possible to enable a cost-effective production of the wanted quality of white crystal sugar. The most commonly used purification approach of beet raw juice is the so-called classical liming process. The aim and principles of the different successive process steps in juice purification will be outlined in this paper. The purification principles comprise several chemical-physical reactions of particular nonsugars in the juice which are initiated at first by the addition of milk of lime to the raw juice in preliming and main liming. Through injection of the carbon dioxide produced in the lime kiln in the 1st carbonatation calcium ions precipitate as calcium carbonate, which is then used as filter aid to remove by sedimentation and/or filtration the formed slurry. The remaining surplus of lime salts are finally removed in the 2nd carbonatation which after filtration results in a clear thin juice.

A novel method of affinity purification and characterization of polygalacturonase of Aspergillus flavus by galacturonic acid engineered magnetic nanoparticle

Pectinases hydrolyze pectin and make up 25% of global food processing enzyme sales. In this study, we aimed to purify exo-polygalacturonase (Exo-PG) by using galacturonic acid conjugated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and examined its application in juice purification. The submerged fermentation was carried out in the presence of apple pectin (1%) to promote production of exo-PG from Aspergillus flavus. Maximum exo-PG activity was observed after 4 days (30 °C and pH 5.0). A single protein band (66 kDa) of purified exo-PG was observed in SDS-PAGE. Purification of exo-PG enzyme was ∼ 10 fold with a yield of 29%. The enzyme retained 98% activity in the presence of 15 % glycerol at 4 °C. The purified exo-PG using MNPs yielded a 10–12% increase in juice production as compare to without treated fruit juice. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of affinity purification of exo-PG enzyme, using engineered magnetic nanoparticles.

Улучшение технологических индикаторов полуфабрикатов производства сахара из бактериально инфицированной сахарной свеклы

Introduction. Technological aids play a special role in sugar production technology, but their complex effectiveness requires a comprehensive and in-depth study. The research objective was to establish the patterns of change in the technological indicators of semi-finished products obtained from bacterially infected sugar beets with the combined use of an enzyme preparation, antimicrobial agent, and defoamer.
 Study objects and methods. The study involved such semi-finished products as juice (diffusion, pre-defecated, first and second saturation) and syrup, the quality of which was determined according to standard methods. The laboratory experiment was carried out on the basis of the second-order D-optimal Box-Behnken plan for three factors at three levels.
 Results and discussion. The research revealed positive dynamics of the following technological indicators: sucrose content, deposition rate, turbidity, chromaticity, and general purification effect. The sugar beet had the second degree of infection with mucous bacteriosis. Purified juice underwent lime-carbon dioxide purification and thickening under the combination of enzyme preparation Dextrasept 2, antimicrobial agent Betasept, and antifoam agent Voltes FSS 93. The greatest increase in sucrose at the level of 1.1% by DM weight was confirmed by a higher overall effect of purification of diffusion juice (2.2 %). The values of turbidity of the purified juice and syrup were below the threshold values. The low values resulted from the increase in the sedimentation rate of the pre-defective juice and the juice of the first saturation by an average of 4.1 and 3.2 times, respectively, due to the effective removal of high molecular weight compounds. The share of the enzyme preparation was 40–71%, antimicrobial agent – 19–49%, defoamer – 1.6–6.5%. The values of the multicriteria optimization parameter corresponded with technological indicators. The optimal combination (per 1000 tons of beets) included 6–8 kg of Dextrasept 2, 1.5–2.0 kg of Betasept, and 15–20 kg of Voltes FSS 93. As a result, the yield of white sugar increased by 0.25%. 
 Conclusion. The regression dependencies can be recommended for predicting the main technological indicators of semi-finished products. The resulting data makes it possible to determine the effectiveness of the combined use of an enzyme preparation, antimicrobial agent, and defoamer in sugar production. Further research will identify the patterns of multifactorial interaction of these preparations.

Substantiation of a rational method of purification of sugar sorghum juice in the technology of food syrup production

Substantiation of a rational method of purification of sugar sorghum juice in the technology of food syrup production

First insights into the wood management for the production of lime given by the anthracological study of a 19th century lime kiln from Martinique, Lesser Antilles

The colonial economy of Martinique, French West Indies, has long been based on sugar cane exploitation, which started in the 17th century and decreased during the 19th century. Sugar economy led to woodland exploitation for the production of fuel. In particular, this fuelwood was needed for lime production, which was used for the purification of cane juice. As lime kilns are numerous in Martinique, their functioning implied an intense wood exploitation. To date, no archaeobotanical studies were conducted to assess how lime kiln workers used and managed wood for the production of fuel. In this study, we analyzed 207 wood charcoals fragments from a 19th century lime kiln at the Sucrerie plantation, Les Anses-d’Arlet, Martinique. This led to the identification of 50 taxa, showing that wood collection was mainly diffuse and unfocused. But the occurrence of taxa known as being used for fuelwood or charcoal production suggests that lime kiln workers were looking for wood with good fuel properties. Our results also show that the collection of wood was made locally, as revealed by the presence of a xero- to mesophilic vegetation in the anthracological record, which is in accordance with botanical and ethnological data. The presence of pioneer and heliophilic taxa also suggest that the vegetation was already impacted by wood exploitation, i.e., local forest associations were largely disturbed by this time and secondary regrowth was conspicuous. Nevertheless, the high proportion of small-gauge wood charcoals fragments (36%) and the presence of edible taxa in the anthracological record suggest that saplings and pruning waste may have been preferred to preserve useful and mature trees. This study allows for the first time to assess which fuelwood was used by Antillean lime kiln workers during the colonial Period which makes it possible to better understand one of the most widespread handicrafts during the sugar exploitation in the Caribbean.

Purification and concentration of potato juice by ultrafiltration and nanofiltration

In this article are proposed and investigated the baromembrane methods for purification of potato juice with recycling. The resulting concentrate could be used as a feed and food additive. The optimal technological parameters of the ultrafiltration stage – the type of membranes, the molecular weight cutoff, the process temperature, and the operating pressure are analyzed and determined.