PERSPECTIVES AND LIMITS OF CURRENT BEET QUALITY EVALUATION

After a historical review of the development of sugar beet analyses an d of the automated sugar beet laboratories at KWS, there follows a dis cussion of the scientific fundamentals of quality evaluation of sugar beet. Afterwards, the publication concentrates on the ''New Braunschwe ig Formula'' officially introduced in Germany in 1996 as the quality f ormula, as well as on the suggested alternative to evaluate quality in sugar beet by Burba and Schiweck and by Pollach et al. These concepts are based on the prediction of the alkalinity reserves in sugar beet and on the thick juice nonsugars (nonsugar concept) and they necessita te additional analytical values in their definitions (such as invert s ugar/reducing sugars and harmful nitrogen). These new characteristics have so far not been considered in the routine analyses of sugar beet laboratories, lacking the development of appropriate analytical method s in this area. The developmental work with the fluorimetric benzamidi ne method for determination of invert sugar/reducing sugars, however, is almost complete. In the case of the harmful nitrogen, as well as fo r the highly correlated total nitrogen in clarified beet brei digests (representative of the harmful nitrogen in thick juices) a routine met hod has still to be found, or a currently available method will have t o be modified and adapted to the requirements of modern beet laborator ies. Lastly, from the standpoint of the breeding of sugar beet, a summ ary of the current advances is given together with the new possibiliti es of employing biotechnological, as well as genetic engineering metho ds to improve the technical quality of sugar beet.