Sugar beet: properties, calorie content

On the shelves of modern stores you can see not only cane, but also beet sugar. This sweet ingredient has found wide use in cooking. It is used to prepare many dishes. After reading today's article, you will learn about the useful properties and the features of the production of this product.

A Brief Historical Reference

The first attempts to draw attention to a rather high concentration of sugar in the beet were made by the French botanist Olivier de Serre. Unfortunately, then his actions were not crowned with success and did not arouse the interest of a wide range of people. And only many years later, in 1747, the German chemist Markgraf succeeded in obtaining hard beetroot sugar. He reported this opening during one of his next appearances, but his work was left without due attention.

Only in 1786 his work was continued by the Frenchman Charles Akhard. The main task of his agricultural experiments, conducted in a small estate near Berlin, was to find the best beet variety, which is optimal for sugar production. Three decades later, the results of his research were presented to the King of Prussia. And in 1802 the first factory for manufacturing this product was opened.

Composition

It should be noted that sugar beet sugar is nothing more than ordinary sucrose. When it enters the human body, it instantly splits into glucose and fructose. Later, these substances are absorbed into the blood and delivered to each cell, providing them with energy.

Due to the high rate of breakdown into individual components, sugar refers to digestible carbohydrates. The energy value of one hundred grams of the product is 390 kilocalories.

Beneficial features

Those who do not know what color unrefined beet sugar, it will be interesting that this product is practically not used for food. In the beginning, it goes through a cleaning stage, thanks to which we get what we see on the shelves of our stores. Refined product refers to carbohydrates, which are valuable nutritional components that saturate our body with vital energy. Sucrose, rapidly split in the digestive tract into two components, enters the bloodstream and spreads to all organs and tissues.

Glucose provides the bulk of energy costs. In addition, it supports the barrier functions of the liver. Therefore, it is often recommended to administer intravenously for poisoning and some other health problems. In addition, sugar beet is successfully used in medicine. It is used for the production of syrups, which are the basis for the manufacture of liquid medications.

Harmful to the product

Sugar contains a large number of empty calories, which could be obtained from other sources. In contrast to this sweet sand, in other products there are vitamins and trace elements.

Do not forget that sugar beet sugar, consumed in unjustifiably large quantities, is bad for the teeth. This is due to the fact that a lot of bacteria live in the human mouth, under the influence of which this product turns into acids, destroying enamel and contributing to the development of caries.

Production technology

We note at once that sugar beet sugar is not refined made from the corresponding agricultural crop. Raw material for its production refers to perishable products, so processing plants are built in close proximity to plantations. Manufacturing technology consists of several stages. It includes extraction, purification, evaporation and crystallization.

Pre-washed beets cut into small chips and sent to the diffuser. It extracts sugar from the plant mass with the help of hot water. As a result of this process, juice is obtained, consisting of 15% sucrose. The remaining waste (beet pulp) can be used for feeding farm animals. Subsequently, the diffusion juice is fed to a saturator. There it combines with lime milk. This is necessary for separating heavy impurities that settle on the bottom. Then the heated solution is treated with carbon dioxide and filtered. The result is a so-called purified juice, in which 50-65% of sugar is present.

The resulting liquid is subjected to crystallization carried out in a huge vacuum reservoir. The result of this process is utfel. It is a molasses mixed with sucrose crystals. To separate these components, this substance is subjected to centrifugation. Sugar, obtained in this way, does not need additional refining. It is fully suitable for later use.

The remaining molasses are sent for evaporation, resulting in less pure crystals, which are then dissolved and refined.