Sugar and Starch Flashcards
What are the primary sources of sugar production?
sugar cane, sugar beet, and starch
Describe the process of sugar production from sugar cane.
-Harvesting the sugar cane
-preparing it for milling
-extracting the juice
-purifying the juice
-concentrating the juice by evaporation
-crystallizing the sugar
-separating the crystals from the syrup through centrifugation.
- packaging
How is juice extracted from sugar cane during the manufacturing process?
Juice extraction from sugar cane is done by grinding the cane stalks into smaller pieces. Then
1. Miling: shredded and fed through horizontal rollers to extract juice.
2. Diffusion: where crushed cane is washed with warm water to extract juice.
What is the purpose of the clarification process in sugar manufacturing?
The purpose of clarification in sugar manufacturing is to remove impurities from the extracted juice by using lime and heat, which stabilize the juice, raise the pH, and help form a precipitate that captures impurities.
Explain the evaporation process in sugar manufacturing.
During evaporation, clarified juice with high water content (around 85%) is concentrated to form a syrup with about 65% solids. A vacuum system is used to boil the juice at lower temperatures, often using multiple-effect evaporators.
What is crystallization in sugar processing, and why is it important?
Crystallization is the process of forming sugar crystals from the concentrated syrup by heating it under a vacuum to supersaturation. This is essential for producing solid sugar crystals, which are later separated to produce raw sugar.
What steps are involved in the sugar refining process?
Sugar refining involves several steps: affination and melting (to remove molasses), purification through clarification, liming, phosphatation, carbonation, and filtration. Decolorization is also performed before crystallization, centrifugation, drying, and final packaging.
Differentiate between cane sugar and beet sugar in terms of production regions.
Cane sugar is primarily produced in tropical regions such as Brazil, India, Cuba, and the USA, while beet sugar is produced in more temperate regions like the USA, China, Spain, and Iran.
What is the significance of using lime during the clarification of sugar juice?
Lime is added to sugar juice to raise the pH and stabilize the juice against sucrose hydrolysis, which helps in forming a precipitate that captures impurities, facilitating easier clarification and improved final product quality.
How is raw sugar different from refined sugar?
Raw sugar is less pure, typically containing 98-98.5% purity, while refined sugar undergoes additional processing steps, including decolorization and further purification, to achieve a very high purity level and a whiter appearance.
What are the by-products of sugar production, and how are they utilized?
By-products include molasses, bagasse, and beet pulp. Molasses is used in animal feed, fermentation, and growing yeast. Bagasse is used as a fuel source and raw material in pulp and paper industries, while beet pulp is mainly used as animal feed.
What is the primary purpose of using a vacuum system during evaporation in sugar production?
The vacuum system allows juice to boil at lower temperatures, which prevents caramelization and degradation of sugar quality during the concentration process.
What types of sugars can be derived from starch, and how are they produced?
Sugars derived from starch include dextrose, glucose, and high-fructose corn syrup. These are produced through hydrolysis processes, including acid, enzyme, or combined acid-enzyme hydrolysis, which break down starch into simpler sugars.
Explain the significance of Dextrose Equivalent (DE) in starch conversion.
Dextrose Equivalent (DE) indicates the level of hydrolysis in starch, representing the percentage of dextrose in relation to the original dry starch weight. Higher DE values mean more extensive hydrolysis and simpler sugars.
What is the role of centrifugation in the sugar crystallization process?
Centrifugation separates sugar crystals from the mother liquor (molasses). High-speed spinning allows crystals to be separated, washed, and prepared for drying, producing purer, isolated sugar crystals.
