Combined pressing-diffusion technology for sugar beets pretreated by pulsed electric field

Results showed that cold PEF treatment followed by rapid pressing permitted expression 50% of undiluted juice (Brix ≈ 21.2%). Sucrose extraction from pressed slices with reduced draft (80-100%) allowed substantial water and energy savings for the extraction step. Experiments revealed that slices were better exhausted by the new extraction process which permitted to reduce the sucrose loss in pulp from 1.2% to 0.8%. Moreover, the obtained juice was more concentrated in sucrose, less colored (7000 vs. 10,000 IU) and purer (92.8% vs. 91.8%) than that conventionally extracted by diffusion.