Inevitable in every self -respecting school book, together with the jagged coasts and the fertile crescent, and the undisputed protagonist of our former Questions of geographywe cannot fail to think about the sugar beet with a certain nostalgia. Let’s talk clearly: we all went through. Who hasn’t happened to raise their hand at least once to answer “sugar beets” and also with a certain satisfaction?
Sugar beet is now an icon of geography in pop culture, so much so that it has even become a timeless meme of the web. But, despite his name, he resounds us like that of an old classmate, in all this, we actually understood What it is about And which states of the world really cultivate it? Let’s clarify once and for all what the sugar beet is, where it is produced and What is used for.
The industrial use of sugar beet
There beet (Beta Vulgaris) is probably a plant originally from the Mediterranean regions which over time has given rise to a multitude of varieties, generally identified in agriculture in Four different groups: from distillery, vegetable garden, forage and sugar.
There sugar beet (Beta Vulgaris Var. sack), in particular, is grown as industrial plant and used in the sugar productionthanks to the high concentration of sucrose contained in its roots. Sucrose is an organic compound that is in nature in the form of small crystals or dissolved in solution which, if refined and treated in a certain way, turns into the Municipality sugar which we find in most houses and widely used in the food industry of almost the whole world.
The life cycle of the beetroot plant
Sugar beet is one Biennial Herbaceous plant With green stem tall a few tens of centimeters and thick fleshy roots of conical shape. “Biennale” means that the beetroot takes two years to turn its own life cycle: in the first year it is determined vegetative developmentwhich therefore entails the growth of the stem and the leaves, while the reproductive stage is only from the second year.
This plant prefers i mild climates And it is in fact present both as a summer crop in the cooler regions of the temperate bands of the planet and as winter culture in the hot regions of the same areas; In any case, it always needs a good availability of water throughout the growth period.
The production of sucrose takes place in the leaves thanks to the process of Chlorophyllian photosynthesisbut when the plant produces more sucrose than that consumed, it begins to accumulate this surplus inside the big roots. A good yield of the sugar beet roots is obtained when the climate was mild throughout the growth period.
Industrial production of beet sugar
After collection, sugar beets are quickly transported to sugars To avoid the fermentation which could lead to a considerable loss of sucrose. Arrived at their destination, they are washed and subjected to shreddingthat is, cut into small slices, and treated with waterfall warm In special devices: this process determines the extraction of sucrose from the roots and its accumulation in the liquid.
The substance thus obtained, the “crude sauce”, It is subsequently boiled in large containers to do evaporate excess water And to obtain a very viscous and full of sucrose syrup. This syrup is done crystallize And then it comes centrifuged in order to separate the sugar crystals from the rest. The sugar thus obtained, which still contains a percentage of molasses, comes further refined By recrystallization to obtain the common white sugar.
Market and diffusion of sugar beet
Although the beetroot is a plant known and cultivated since ancient times, its industrial use in the production of sugar has only begun at the end of the 1700s. Being a plant that grows above all in temperate climates, the sugar beet is now grown mainly in thenorthern hemispherewith the United States, Russia, Germany and different countries of the Mediterranean area as the main producers.
On the contrary, the first competitor of the beetroot in the production of sucrose for food purposes, the sugar caneis one tropical plantwhich therefore grows above all in hot and humid climates and is cultivated mainly in the countries of Southeast Asia and South America.
