CHEMISTRY OF SACCHARIDES

HISTORY
It probably was first used by man in Polynesia from where it spread to India.
510 BC
- Emperor Darius of what was then Persia, invaded India, where he found
sugarcane growing on the banks of the River Indus.
- Called it reeds which produce honey without bees
6th century AD
- t was grown in Persia and the Arab Muslims took it to Egypt
- The word sugar is derived from the Arabic word sukkar
End of the 10th century AD
- The early Islamic movement established sugar
the Meditteranean area.

production

throughout

1319 AD
- The sugar was available in London.
Middle of the 15th century
- There were plantations in Madeiva, the Canary Islands and Sto. Thomas,
they supplied sugar to Europe.
- Columbus sailed to the Americas called the New World
1493 AD
- He took sugarcane plants to grow in the Carribean.
1600
- The sugar industry was the largest in tropical America.
- Sugar was still a luxury and vast profits were made to the extent that sugar
called white gold.
After 1700 AD
- Sugar was transformed into one of everyday use, even

by the poor.

- Brazil and the new West Indian colonies began producing sugar from
sugarcane in such large
quantities that the price was significantly
reduced.
2nd half of 18th century
- Sugar beet was first developed as a commercial source of sugar by two
German chemists, Margraf and his pupil Archard.
19th century
- Its further development occurred in large part because of Napoleonic wars
when Britain blockaded sugar imports to continental Europe.
1880
- Sugar beet replaced sugarcane as the main source of sugar in continental
Europe.
Refining of sugar

Raw sugar is light to dark brown in color, slightly sticky and contains about 1
to 2 percent of ash, starch and coloring matter.

The purpose of refining raw sugar is to remove impurities and produce refined
sugar of nearly 100% purity.

Steps in the raw sugar refining

Affination

The first step in refining is removing the adhering film of molasses from the
crystals of raw sugar by a washing process known as affination.

This is done by mingling the raw sugar with a hot raw syrup in a large trough
containing a mixer paddle and scroll.

The raw syrup, which has dissolved some of the adherent molasses film from
the crystal faces, is spun off and the residual sugar is washed with a jet of hot
water to remove residual syrup.

Yields a pale-colored sugar, which is discharged by plough into continuousmelter tanks.

Melting

The washed sugar is melted in hot water in the melter tank where it meets a
stream of hot sweet waters from the process.

The dark brown sugar liquor coming from the melter is adjusted to a density
about 65 degrees Brix.

The melter liquor is strained through a plain screen to remove insoluble

debris.

Clarification

The complete removal of field soil and fiber, yeast, molds, gums, colloids, and
foreign contaminants in the raw washed sugar liquor.

The raw liquor is acidic.

One of the three processes is used: carbonation, phosphatation, or

filtration.
Carbonation

A chemical treatment process which form a precipitate in

the liquor.
Involves two stages:
1. The high density liquor is heated from 60 to 80 degrees
Celsius in a saturated
tank and is limited to about pH 10.
2. The precipitate formed in the first stage is conditioned to
improve its filter-ability.
Phosphatation
A chemical treatment process which form a precipitate in the liquor.
The high-density liquor is heated to 60 to 70 degrees Celsius and
treated with small amounts of phosphoric acid and sufficient milk of
lime to bring the pH to 7.2 to 7.8.
After the addition of lime, the temperature of the liquor is raised to
90 degrees Celsius and time is allowed for floc formation.
The precipitate then floats to the surface as a scum and is scraped
off without any filtration.
Filtration
Uses inert filter aids that permit filtration under pressure.
Effected with plate and frame pressure-filters or some type of leaf
pressure-filter such as Sweetland filters with stationary suspended
circular leaves covered on both with filter cloth.

 The liquor is mixed with the filter aid and forced under pump
pressure through the fabric, which retains the cake and allows the
clear liquor to flow through. The retained sugar in the cake can be
washed out with hot water.
Decolorization

An important step because the presence of any colorant in the sucrose is

highly objectionable in the use of the product in food manufacturing.

Carbon adsorbents have been used for removal of coloration in the clarified
effluent liquor. (bone char, granular carbon, or powdered carbon products)

The use of ion exchangers for decolorization is also more widely applied these
days in sugar refining.
a. chloride form of a strong anionic resin
b. sodium form of a strong cationic

The choice of the decolorization method depends on many factors and each
refiner must analyze his own requirements.

Crystallization

The decolorized liquors going into the crystallization and finishing processes
range from water that is white-to-pale yellow with a solid content of 55 to 65
degree Brix (55 to 65 percent).

This liquor is further polish-filtered to make sure that it is sparkling clear with
no turbidity.

In many cases, this liquor is preevaporated to bring the Brix to >68 (68
percent).

The evaporated liquor is then drawn into the vacuum pan in which the
massecuite is boiled.

The controlled crystallization of sugar to produce various sizes of crystals is a

complex process depending largely on the boiling rate throughout and proper
seeding.

The seed is finely pulverized sugar dispersed in isopropyl alcohol or sugar

liquor.

Addition of the seed induces an immediate formation of crystal nuclei

throughout the supersaturated syrup (massecuite).

Once the nuclei are grown to a significant grain size, rapid crystallization
known as a strike takes place.

The crystallized sugar is transferred to centrifuges for removal of free liquor.

They are conveyed to holding bins located above dryers also called
granulators.

Packaging and Storing

Final handling step

The granulated sugar is stored in silos, bins, or bags made from paper, jute,
or plastic.

The unbagged, loose, or bulk sugar is distributed to wholesalers in bins, or

trucks, or rail freight cars.