SUGAR BEET

Generality

Always popularly known as Beta, the very first references to sugar beet date back to 420 BC: its origin is therefore quite ancient, but, as we have seen, the plant waited many centuries before becoming a protagonist in the sugar industry.
It was the year 1747 when Dr. Margaff, chemistry specialist, discovered that sugar crystals comparable to those of the well-known sugar cane could be obtained from beet juice. Despite this revolutionary discovery, in the nineteenth century the competing sugar cane continued to excel.
But sugar beet began to make its way very quickly: apparently, the Napoleonic wars were convict, thanks to the blockade of cane sugar imports. This expedient allowed the sugar beet to replace (almost) the strongest competitor: in those years the first plant was built for the extraction of sucrose from the beet.
In the years to come, the production of beet sugar was increasingly encouraged, despite the fact that cane sugar was still in great demand.
In Italy, unlike many European countries, the spread of sugar beet was slower: only in 1887 the father of the Italian sugar industry (E. Mariani) encouraged both the cultivation of the plant and the extraction of its sugar.
Currently, Europe (with 16 million tons of sugar) and the countries of the former Soviet Union are the largest producers of beet sugar.

Botanical description

Sugar beet is known in botany by the name Beta vulgaris var. turnip form very high or saccharifera (not to be confused with Beta vulgaris var. turnip form rubra, beetroot): we are talking about a biennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Chenopodiaceae family. In the first year there is a stage of the plant called vegetative, while in the following year the plant enters the reproductive stage.
The sugar beet, with a herbaceous and bushy habit, has an angular, erect and very branched stem.
The root is large, fleshy, typically taproot, with a length that sometimes reaches two meters: the sugar beet root is characterized by typical transverse roughness and two longitudinal sugar grooves, a source of sugar.
The leaves are large and greenish, always gathered in elongated spikes: they are arranged in whorls (inserted, that is, in the same axis), heart-shaped at the base, rather rounded or often tapered, from 5 to 20 centimeters long and always petiolate. The flowers, on the other hand, are rather small, so much so that they often do not exceed 5 mm in diameter: the flowers, green or red and consisting of a corolla with 5 sepals, are gathered in tetraflorous spikes.
Sugar beet fruits are called glomeruli: they have a rounded and angular shape, are rather wrinkled and very hard. The seeds are greenish, sometimes brown, yellow or black, and have a typically lenticular shape.
In botany, sugar beet varieties are classified according to the type of seeds, the chromosomal heritage, at the time of sowing and in relation to the quantity of sugar extracted from the root (weight / sugar content ratio). [taken from www.agraria.org/]

Soil, climate and temperature

Sugar beet loves deep soils, enriched with organic substance, with a neutral pH, while acidic ones with stagnation of water are not suitable for its correct development. The plant requires constant water availability, therefore irrigation by sprinkling is recommended.
The temperature for germination of the plant must be at least 5-6 ° C, even if the optimal one is around 10-12 ° C. The accumulation of sugary substances in the beet root is favored by a modest daytime temperature range -night.
Sugar beet prefers temperate climates: so much so that the European and former Soviet Union ones are particularly favorable to its development.
Generally, sowing takes place between the end of February and the beginning of March; however, in some southern regions it is preferable to postpone the sowing period to mid-September, for climatic reasons.
The harvest, on the other hand, begins towards the end of August for the earliest varieties, and in the second week of September for the others.
Planted in ideal soils, with a favorable climate and suitable temperatures, sugar beet becomes a veritable mine of sugary substances: in such situations, a yield of over 400 quintals per hectare is estimated, equivalent to 65 quintals of sugar; however, in some regions, the yield is higher, even reaching 1,000 quintals of beets per hectare and 200 quintals of sugar! The yield is therefore incredible, which, just a couple of centuries ago, would have seemed impossible.

Extraction of sucrose

After harvesting, the sugar beets are brought to the sugar refineries: storage of the sugar roots is impossible due to the rapid fermentation, which would degrade the product and, consequently, would damage the final production.
The beets are channeled onto conveyor belts and subsequently washed with jets of water; after which, any herbs and stones inevitably collected together with the beets are eliminated.
The roots are sliced (shredded) before moving on to the next stage: spreading. It is a process in which the sugar beet strips and the water flow in countercurrent, so that the sugar is extracted from the slices by diffusion. The exhausted matrix - therefore discharged of sugar - is subjected to drying; on the other hand, the sugar sauce obtained (13-15% sugar concentration) is subsequently purified to eliminate all the impurities that would hinder the crystallization process of the sugar.
After purification, the concentration of the sugar sauce follows (evaporation of a part of the water), cooking and centrifugation, the main stage - the latter - for the separation of the crystals: after having concentrated the sauce, a saturated solution is obtained with sugar crystals, the enlargement of which will be terminated in particular cooled mixers Subsequently, the separation of the crystals ends in the centrifuges: in this way, raw beet sugar is obtained.
Refining is the last step in which the raw sugar is purified again after being dissolved, bleached, filtered and, once again, cooked and centrifuged.
The residue from the manufacture and refining of sugar is molasses.

Property

A mention must be made of the beneficial properties of sugar beet: the plant, in fact, should not be remembered only for the production of sugar, but also for its healthy and nutritional qualities. The root is rich in mineral salts and vitamins, therefore it is remineralizing and vitaminizing. Furthermore, it boasts purifying, antiseptic, restorative, digestive and stimulating properties for the production of bile; in the same way, sugar beet is able to absorb toxins from cells and facilitate their elimination. Furthermore, sugar beet is an excellent natural remedy for treating anemia and brain infections, as well as stimulating the system lymphatic and erythrocyte production. [taken from wikipedia]
As for the nutritional analysis, 100 grams of sugar beet provide about 20 Kcal: 91% is made up of water, 4% carbohydrates, proteins just over 1%. Antioxidants, nitrates and oxalic acid also make up the phytocomplex of sugar beet.

Sugar beet in brief »