Physico-chemical and technological studies on sugar beet roots

The morphological and chemical characteristics of ten varieties of sugar be et roots were evaluated during the season of 1996-1997. The best morphologi cal characteristics were found in Top, Ito and Pamela varieties. The highes t expected technological yield of sugar was found in Pamela and Top. The ch emical constituents of different varieties of sugar-beet roots showed signi ficant differences. The suitability of sugar beet juice for preparing beet syrup as a new produ ct was also evaluated and compared with sugar cane syrup. Purified beet-syr ups concentrated under vacuum or under atmospheric pressure showed more sta bility during storage than sugar cane syrup. The effect of storage conditio ns (at cold storage and at room temperature) and packaging materials (glass and polyethylene high-density bottles) on properties of beet-syrup and sug ar cane syrup were also studied.