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Determination of Sugar Beet Sucrose Content Using an Infrared-Spectrometer-Equipped Polarimeter Compared to the Conventional Polarimetric Method. | ||
| چغندرقند | ||
| Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 06 September 2025 | ||
| Document Type: Short paper | ||
| DOI: 10.22092/jsb.2025.369456.1389 | ||
| Author | ||
| Babak Babaee* | ||
| Assistant professor of Sugar Beet Seed Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran. | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Sucrose content (polarity) in sugar beet is commonly measured in the sugar industry using the polarimetric method. Recently, a polarimeter equipped with an infrared light source and an automatic juice extractor (Autofilt) has been introduced to improve the speed of analysis and eliminate the use of toxic lead acetate in sucrose determination. This study aimed to compare two methods of juice extraction and sucrose measurement: the conventional polarimetric method and the Autofilt-based method. For this purpose, a total of 158 frozen beet pulp samples from sugar beet research trials and the Jovein Sugar Factory were analyzed using both techniques. The samples originated from Miandoab (29), Isfahan (29), Kerman (27), Shiraz (28), and Jovein Factory (45). Each sample consisted of 200 grams of pulp obtained from 40 to 50 cleaned beet roots, after removing crowns and aerial parts, followed by pulping, homogenization, and freezing at –20°C. Prior to analysis, samples were thawed at room temperature and re-homogenized. One portion of each sample was analyzed by the conventional method, and the other by the Autofilt method using a polarimeter equipped with an infrared spectrometer. In the conventional method, juice extraction was performed by cold digestion, mixing 26 grams of pulp with 177 mL of 0.01 M alkaline lead acetate solution. In the Autofilt method, juice extraction was carried out under 5 bar (0.5 MPa) pressure filtration by mixing 26 grams of pulp with 177 mL of distilled water and diatomaceous earth. Sucrose contents obtained by the two methods were statistically compared using paired t-tests, both regionally and across all samples. In some regions, the mean sucrose values from the two methods differed significantly. However, for the total dataset, no statistically significant difference was observed between the mean sucrose content measured by the conventional method (17.06%) and that by the Autofilt method (16.68%) (P<0.094). A linear regression analysis between conventional (y) and Autofilt-based (x) measurements yielded the equation y = 0.963x + 1.0043 with a coefficient of determination R² = 0.98. Considering the advantages of the Autofilt method, it is recommended to implement this system alongside the conventional method for high-throughput analysis of fresh pulp samples in at least one sugar factory, thereby enabling broader national application with greater confidence. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Sucrose; measurement; autofilt | ||
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