Microbiological problems in the manufacture of sugar from beet. II. Losses due to fermentation during the diffusion process

✍ Scribed by Allen, L. A. ;Cooper, A. H. ;Maxwell, M. C. C.

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1948
• Weight: 882 KB
• Volume: 67
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0368-4075
• DOI: 10.1002/jctb.5000671208

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

During the process of diffusion the gas which collects at the top of a diffuser contains a decreasing proportion of carbon dioxide and an increasing proportion of hydorgen. Observations on the respiration of sliced beet suggest that this factor may be largerly responsible for carbon dioxide which appears at the beginning of diffusion, but that the rising remperature in the3 battery soon inhibits further plant respiration. Periodic opening of the release cocks, which occurs during operation of the battery, then trends to replace the gases originally present by those released from the juice. These include the products of fermentation, which consist of carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

The thermophilic bacterial flora of the diffusing juice consist maninly of lactobacilli and gas ‐forming anaerobes. These appear to be largely responbible for production of gas, formation of invert sugar, and the appearance in the juiice of small quantities of lactic, butyric, and acetic acids. The temperature relations of the strains of these organisms tested in the laboratory suggest that their activities would be inhibited if the temperature of the battery were consistently maintained above 70°