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1.4.2 SUGAR LOSS : DAY
In terms of loss per unit of time, studies conducted under normal commercial storage conditions of less than 10°C and between one and three months, have calculated average daily sugar loss to vary from between 0.17 up to 1.4 kilograms of sugar per tonne of beet per day (Downie, 1950; Jaggard et al., 1997). At a sugar concentration of 17% in the sugar beet, that is 0.1 to 0.8% per day. Daily losses also vary within any one clamp. As a general trend, per day losses increase with time, but can be significantly higher during parts of the storage period.
A rule of thumb often used in the management of clamps that will stand for more than a week is that between 0.1 and 0.2% of initially available sugar will be lost per day. If 10% total loss is taken as an upper permissible bound, this suggests a clamp can be left to stand for anywhere between 50 and 100 days – a big margin of error.1
Downie, A. (1950). 1949 results of ventilated storage of sugar beets. Proc. Amer. Soc. Sug. B. Tech.
Jaggard, K. W., et al. (1997). “Changes in the weight and quality of sugarbeet (Beta vulgaris) roots in storage clamps on farm.” The Journal of Agricultural Science 129(3): 287-301.
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.