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Procedia Engineering 32 (2012) 141 147

I-SEEC2011

Clarification of sugarcane juice for syrup production

P. Laksameethanasan *, N. Somla, S. Janprem, N. Phochuen
a

Program of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology

Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat University, Nakhon Pathom, 73000, Thailand

Elsevier use only: Received 30 September 2011; Revised 10 November 2011; Accepted 25 November 2011.

Abstract

The objective of this research was to study the process of sugarcane syrup production for the community. The
clarification process was required to reduce particles in sugarcane juice before heating to produce syrup. In this work,
we analyzed the turbidity, color, pH and sensory evaluation to determine the clarification effect due to three
clarifying agents: lime, bentonite and activated carbon. The study of clarification by liming showed that adding lime
to pH 7 reduced the turbidity more effective than those to pH 8 and 9, and the study of adding bentonite at 3% (w/w)
resulted in turbidity that was not significantly different (p>0.05) from those adding at 4 and 5% (w/w). Further
clarification by powder activated carbon at 0.1 0.2 and 0.3 % (w/w) after liming to pH 7 and 3% bentonite indicated
that the increase in activated carbon content led to the decrease in turbidity and color. After the clarification, the
juices were heated directly to obtain syrup of 68oBrix total solid content. The syrup from juice treated with 3%
bentonite and 0.3% activated carbon gave the lowest absorbance value at 420 nm corresponding to the lightest color
with 52.4% sucrose. Sensory evaluation revealed the color likeness of syrups from juices clarified by 4 different
treatments was in the range of 4.78-5.84 from the scale of 7.

2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of I-SEEC2011
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Keywords: Sugarcane syrup; Sugarcane juice clarification; Lime; Bentonite; Activated carbon

1. Introduction

Sugarcane is one of the major crops in Thailand and produces are primarily sold to sugar
manufacturers [1]. In fact, sugarcane could be processed to syrup, a potential sugarcane products which
could be produced in the community level. Other than sugar, sugarcane juice after coarse filtration of
extracted juice contains small particles of bagasse and soluble substances such as salts of acids, acids,

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +66-34-261-021 ext1828; fax: +66-34-261-065.

E-mail address: parnit@npru.ac.th.

1877-7058 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2012.01.1248
142 P. Laksameethanasan et al. / Procedia Engineering 32 (2012) 141 147

proteins and polysaccharides. The small amount of flavonoids, polyphenolics and organic acids present in
juice are contributed to dark brown color of juice [2]. These compounds should be removed or reduced in
order to produce clear and light syrup. Therefore, the clarification process is required to reduce particles in
juice before syrup production.
In sugar industry, the clarification or purification commonly uses lime and in case of white sugar
process, carbonation, sulfitaion or activated carbon addition is followed [2]. There are several studies on
clarification and decolorisation of sugar beet juice, apple juice, date juice, wine, and cactus pear syrup
treated with lime, activated carbon and bentonite [3-7].
In this study, three clarifying agents which are lime, bentonite and activated carbon were used to study
the process of sugarcane syrup production. This simple process is possibly applied to community
production scale required basic equipment.

2. Materials and Methods

Fresh cane stalks were obtained from Salatuek community in Nakhon Pathom province during the
harvest season in Febraury 2010. After washing and chopping, they were milled by a small cane juice
miller. The raw juice was filtered with a strainer and muslin cloths, then it was kept frozen at -18oC. The
frozen juice was thawed at the room temperature about 30oC before the experiments. In this study, the
four clarification methods were carried out and the clarified juices were filtered with muslin instead of
filter press, filter paper or centrifuge. Clear juices clarified by each of the four methods were heated at
100-102oC with a hot plate and magnetic stirrer to obtain 68oB syrup

2.1. Clarification by liming

Raw juices were limed with the suspension of Ca(OH)2 (AR grade) to pH 6.4 and heated to 93oC with
a hot plate and magnetic stirrer. The heated juices were limed to pH 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 and heated to 100oC
[8]. Let them cool down for 30 min and filter with muslin cloths.

2.2. Clarification by liming and activated carbon

Raw juices were treated by lime as mentioned in 2.1 with the second liming done at pH 7.0. After
filtration with cloths, powder activated carbons were added at 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% (w/w) and heated to
70oC. Allowed to settle for 30 min before filtration with cotton wools.

2.3. Clarification by adding bentonite

Raw juices were clarified by bentonite concentrations of 3, 4, and 5% (w/w) then heated to 80oC [9].
Let them cool down and filtered with muslin cloths.

2.4. Clarification by adding bentonite and activated carbon

Raw juices were clarified by 3% bentonite (w/w) and activated carbons were added at 0.1, 0.2 and
0.3% (w/w) and heated to 70oC. Allowed to settle for 30 min before filtration with cotton wools.
 P. Laksameethanasan et al. / Procedia Engineering 32 (2012) 141 147 143

2.5. Analytical Methods

The pH was performed using a pH meter (WTW 315i/SET). Total solid was measured by a hand-held
refractometer (Atago N-3E). The measurement of absorbance was done by a spectrophotometer
(Shimadzu UV-1601) at 420 nm for color indication and at 900 nm for turbidity. Sugar contents in syrup
were analysed using HPLC.
Sensory quality of clear juice was evaluated by 12 judges who were undergraduate students. A 9-point
hedonic scale was used to evaluate how much the judges liked the color, clarity, flavor, sourness and
overall likeness. However, the sensory assessment of syrup was scored by 30 panelists who are residents
of Salateuk community and 20 students. A 7-point hedonic scale was used to aid the ease of scoring.
The experimental design for physical and chemical measurements was Completely Randomized
Design. On the other hand, the Randomized Complete Block Design was applied for the sensory
evaluation. The statistical analysis was conducted using ANOVA followed by Duncans New Multiple
Range Test to determine differences (p<0.05) between means.

3. Results and Discussion

The raw juice had pH 5.31, absorbance at 900 nm of 1.542 and at 420 nm at 3.1351 and was clarified
by four methods.

3.1. Clarification by liming

Lime was added to increase the pH to 7.0, 8.0, and 9.0 during clarification. However, the pH values were
slightly dropped after heating to6.64, 7.80, and 8.86, respectively. Lime was added to juice to neutralize
and form insoluble lime salts. Colloidal matters such as pectins, hemicelluloses, proteins and colored
compounds are absorbed by the precipitated ions and some colloids are flocculated by heat [10]. These
impurities were removed and turbidity was lowered. The clarified juices with larger amount of lime
giving higher pH had absorbance at both 900 and 420 nm higher than those with lower pH. The turbidity
shown in Fig. 1 was the lowest in the juice added the least amount of lime. Excess lime gave adverse
effect on turbidity and color. Therefore, liming to a certain pH is necessary. Liming to pH 6.1-6.4 with
heating and liming to pH 7.4-7.8 is suggested in fractional liming [2]. The higher color intensity under
alkaline condition was due to the increasing rate of melanoidin formation, when monosaccharides react
with amino acids [2].

(a) (b)

Fig. 1. Effect of lime added to certain pH values on (a) absorbance and (b) sensory quality
144 P. Laksameethanasan et al. / Procedia Engineering 32 (2012) 141 147

Sensory evaluation of the juices after treated with lime was shown in Fig. 1(b). The juices treated to
pH 9 were rated the highest scores in all of the attributes, whereas the scores of the juices with pH 7 and 8
were not significantly different (p> 0.05) in likeness of most of attributes.

3.2. Clarification by liming and activated carbon

Raw juices were treated with lime to pH 7.0 as mentioned previously followed by decolorization by
activated carbon. The comparative results of juices with activated carbon levels at 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%
(w/w) were presented in Fig. 2. Higher amounts of activated carbon resulted in juices with lower
absorbance at both 900 and 420 nm indicating more clarity and lighter color. The most significant
colorants formed during sugar processing are melanoidin, and melanin. In white sugar production,
decolorization of cane juice by activated carbon as adsorbent is an alternative to produce clear syrup [2].
The ability of activated carbon to adsorb organic substances is raised with increasing surface areas [11].



(a) (b)

(a) (b)

Fig. 2. Effect of activated carbon concentration after liming on (a) absorbance and (b) sensory quality

When the activated carbon was added at 0.3%, the likeness related to color, clarity, sourness and
overall quality was significantly greater than that at 0.1%. Although the level of activated carbon
increased, the flavor scores were not significantly different (p> 0.05).

3.3. Clarification by bentonite

Results of juice quality after bentonite addition were presented in Fig. 3. The clarified juices with
higher amount of bentonite had slightly darker color than those with less bentonite. On the other hand,
there was no significant difference in turbidity of juices with different concentrations of bentonite.
Bentonite was used in sugar beet manufacture to remove color and turbidity of juice. Adsorption of
colorants and organic molecules like protein on bentonite reduced raw juice color and turbidity. The
reduction in color and turbidity should be observed for increasing concentration of bentonite due to the
greater adsorption surface [3]. However, the results were different in this experiment probably due to the
effect of pH on color. The pH of clarified juices with 3, 4, and 5% bentonite were 5.63, 5.70, and 5.84.
With increasing pH, phenol colorants are less adsorbed because of reduced ionization [12].
Sensory evaluation of the juices after treated with bentonite was shown in Fig. 3(b). The lighter color
of juice treated with 3% bentonite was liked significantly more than the color of juice of 5%. The scores
of likeness in flavour, sourness, and overall of three juices were not significantly different (p> 0.05).
 P. Laksameethanasan et al. / Procedia Engineering 32 (2012) 141 147 145

(a) (b)

Fig. 3. Effect of bentonite concentration on (a) absorbance and (b) sensory quality

3.4. Clarification by adding bentonite and activated carbon

Raw juices were treated with 3% bentonite as mentioned before adding three levels of activated
carbon. The results are presented in Fig. 4. Higher amounts of activated carbon resulted in juices with
lower absorbance at both 900 and 420 nm indicating more clarity and lighter color due to the increase in
surface area for adsorption. The turbidity and color of each concentration is significantly different.
However, all of the sensory scores were not significantly different (p> 0.05).


(a) (b)

Fig. 4. Effect of activated carbon concentration after bentonite addition on (a) absorbance and (b) sensory quality

3.5. Syrup production

The properties of syrup after clarified by the four methods were shown in Table 1. The absorbances at
540 nm of syrups indicating the color were significantly different in each treatment. Treatment with0.3%
activated carbon after adding 3% bentonite showed the lowest absorbance. Adding activated carbon could
decolorize juices and led to less absorbance of syrups treated with activated carbon than those without it.
Although the darkest color was detected in syrup treated with lime only, the judges rated the highest color
146 P. Laksameethanasan et al. / Procedia Engineering 32 (2012) 141 147

likeness. Liming gave the higher sucrose content in syrups, but lower glucose and fructose content than
those adding bentonite. This resulted from more sugar hydrolysis occurring at lower pH [10].

Table 1. Characteristics of syrups from different clarification methods

Clarification method pH of syrup Absorbance Glucose Fructose Sucrose Color likeness

540 nm (color) % % %
L pH7 5.80a0.01 2.8542a0.0002 2.50c0.10 1.75c0.98 52.24c2.31 5.84a0.35
L pH7 and 0.3% AC
a
5.85 0.07 c
1.9544 0.0011 d
1.95 0.17 d
1.54 0.17 a
55.28 1.80 5.42ab0.19
B 3%
b
5.15 0.05 b
2.4241 0.0023 a
3.73 0.21 b
2.88 0.33 b
51.91 0.50 4.78b0.84
B 3% and 0.3% AC
b
5.14 0.08 d
1.3038 0.0012 b
3.66 0.14 a
3.13 0.31 d
52.40 0.79 5.27ab0.72
Means with different letters in the same column are significantly different (p 0.05).
L = liming, B = bentonite addition, AC = activated carbon addition.

4. Conclusion

The clarification by liming showed that adding lime to pH 7 led to less turbid juice than those to pH 8
and 9. The clarified juices by bentonite at 3% (w/w) resulted in turbidity that was not significantly
different (p>0.05) from those adding at 4 and 5% (w/w). Further clarification by powder activated carbon
after liming or adding bentonite indicated that the increase in activated carbon content led to the decrease
in turbidity and color. Then, the clarified juices by four methods were directly heated to obtain syrup of
68oBrix. The syrup from juice treated with 3% bentonite followed by 0.3% activated carbon gave the
lowest color measurement, while that treated with lime to pH 7 showed the darkest color. Liming
contributed to higher sucrose content, but lower glucose and fructose content than adding bentonite due to
sugar hydrolysis. The color likeness of syrup was the highest in syrup treated with lime only and the
lowest in syrup treated with bentonite only. Our results suggest that juice treated with 3% bentonite and
0.3% activated carbon gave the best clarification process in terms of color and sensory quality.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Research and Development Institute, Nakhon Pathom Rajabhat
University for financial support and the residents of Salatuek community for cooperation.

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