3.1.2.2. SUGAR LOSS : AVERAGE TEMPERATURE

Many studies have shown, all else held constant, that a higher temperature in a field clamp will result in a higher level of sugar loss. For example, for 1948 Downie recorded a sugar loss per ton of beet of 6.2 kg for a pile stored at ca. 4.4°C, compared to a loss of 14.2 kg for a pile stored at 7°C. In 1949, the difference was a lot less, with losses of 7.4 and 8.8 kg per ton of beet at approximately the same temperatures. More recently and in on-farm clamps, Nordic Beet Research found that by maintaining a temperature difference through active ventilation, sugar concentration reductions during storage could be significantly reduced (Ekelöf, 2019). For a clamp with an average temperature of 9.6°C, sugar concentration reduced from 19.0% at harvest to 18.1% at delivery, some six weeks later. For the ventilated clamp, the temperature averaged 5.5°C for the same period, with sugar concentration at delivery measured at 18.5%. For the small 200 tonnes of beets each clamp consisted of, this difference is equivalent to nearly one tonne of sugar.¹

Downie, A. (1950). 1949 results of ventilated storage of sugar beets. Proc. Amer. Soc. Sug. B. Tech.

Ekelöf, J. (2019). 604 Ventilated storage – 2018. Borgeby, Sweden, NBR Nordic Beet Research.

¹Direct extract from: English, W. (2020). Long Term Storage of Sugar Beets and the Role of Temperature. Introductory paper at the Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Crop Production Science. Alnarp, Sweden, Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Crop Production Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Science. 2020:14.