Storage of sugar beet raw juice

Big disadvantage in sugar beet processing is the possibility of sugar beet treatment only during three month period. This paper deals with possibilities of raw juice long term storage without adding of any chemical additives. For this purpose sugar beet raw juice concentrates were prepared on the climbing film evaporator during two sugar campaigns 97/98 and 98/99. The final refractometric dry solid content varied from 40 to 72%. Some juices were pre-treated by micro- or ultrafiltration. Concentrates were stored for the period of 5 months (campaign 97/98) and 7 months (campaign 98/99) in a stock-room without any heating. Temperatures in the stock-room were very close to the outdoor average temperatures. It resulted from the analysis that initial dry solid content about 65% seemed to be sufficient for avoiding of microbiological decomposition and slight sucrose inversion could be expected but not any other monosaccharide decomposition. Initial dry solid content of juice concentrates at least 70 % assured high stability. There was not found any relevant influence of used methods for raw juice pre-treatment on concentrate durability.