Abstract

Sugar beets, grown in temperate climates predominately in the northern hemisphere, provide about one-third of the world sugar supply and about half of the U.S. requirements. The crop is usually harvested at the end of the growing season and held in large storage piles until processing. The beet root, weighing 1–2 kg, contains 12–20% sucrose, 70–75% water, 2% other solubles, and ca 5% insoluble material, which is eventually dried and sold as an animal feed by-product. The beets are sliced, the solids extracted countercurrently, the juice purified with lime and carbon dioxide then filtered and concentrated, and the sucrose recovered by crystallization in vacuum pans. The final mother liquor, molasses which is about 50% sucrose, may be sold as a by-product or subjected to chromatographic separation to further recover sucrose and occasionally betaine. Markets for the present and near terms are steady or increasing at a rate of 3–4% per year whereas prices are flat. Although some market segments seem to prefer cane sugar over beet sugar, competitive advantages in the United States depend mainly on the ability to produce and deliver the product at the lowest cost.