Brazilian Sugar

This is a guide comprised of words and their definitions which are associated with various aspects of sugar production and refining.

Ash
There are two types of ash commonly referred to in sugar production.

Carbonated ash: This is the ash residue which remains after burning at 650 degrees Celsius.
Sulphated ash: The ash residue from a sample treated with sulphuric acid which remains after burning at 650 degrees Celsius.

Attenuation Index
This is part of the ICUMSA sugar rating process, and refers to how much light absorbance a solution has. It is tested at a specific wavelength, and expressed in terms of that wavelength.

Bagacillo
Little bagasse particles removed from pre-clarification juices or final bagasse.

Bagasse
After sugar cane is crushed, there is a residue left behind, this is referred to as bagasse. There are various types of bagasse, obtained after various stages in the milling, diffusing, and dewatering stages of sugar production. Bagasse obtained after the first mill is called first mill bagasse, and depending on how many milling stages the sugar cane goes through, there may be second mill bagasse, third mill bagasse, etc. Post diffusion stage, the bagasse is known as diffuser bagasse, and the very last type of bagasse is made after the dewatering stage is known just as bagasse, or some people may refer to it as final bagasse.

Bagasse Extract
Bagasse is a liquid fraction which is decanted from the bagasse after it has been blended with water in the cold digester.

Boiling House
Where juices are taken after carbonization or phosphorization to be boiled down.

Boiling House Recovery
A percentage ratio describing how much pol is recovered in the form of sugar from the mixed juice.

Brix
This refers to a measurement of the ratio of the mass of dissolved sugar to the mass of water in an aqueous solution.

Brix-Free Water
Brix-Free water is water that is present in cane and bagasse, but which is not available for the dissolving of sucrose in the cane. It is estimated that on dry cane fiber, there is approximately 25% brix-free water. This water is generally removed by heating the fiber and evaporating it away.

Bulk Density
Simply a measurement of how dense a material is.

Cane to Sugar Ratio
A measurement which describes how many tons of cane are required to produce one ton of sugar.

Cold Digester
A piece of equipment which disintegrates cane or bagasse in water to create a homogenous solution. Used for analytical proceedures.

Crystal Content
A measurement describing the mass of crystalline sugar present in a liquid.

Cush-Cush
This is the material that is removed from the mill juice when it is strained.

DAC Extract
Is the liquid fraction that is decanted from the cane once it has been blended with water in the cold digester

DAC Factors
There are two types of DAC factor.

Brix Factor: This is the percentage ratio of the total brix in the mixed juice and the final bagasse to the total brix in the cane.
Pol Factor: The percentage ratio of total pol in the mixed juice, and the final bagasse to the total pol in the cane.

Dextran
A form of glucose created by microbial activity. This is generally destroyed during the carbonization process.

Dry Substance
Describes the material which is left after a substance has been dried in a consistent fashion.

Escribed Volume
This is a measurement of how much material can be escribed by a pair of mill rolls in a specified length of time. Generally described in meters per second.

Extraction
A measurement of the percentage ratio of sucrose in mixed juice compared to sucrose in sugar cane.

Fiber
The solid part of the sugar cane, which cannot be dissolved. Also known as natural fiber.

Filter Cake
Simply the material which is removed via filtration during the sugar refining process.

Gums
Polysaccharide precipitate which can be made by treating sugar liquor with acidified ethyl alcohol

Imbibition
This is a process in which water (or in some cases sugar juice) is put on bagasse to dilute the juice in the bagasse.

Insoluble Solids
The material present in the mixed sugar juice which does not dissolve and must be removed by sedimentation and/or filtration. In many cases this material will collect at the bottom of the subsiders and be removed.

Intermixed Cane
This term arises from the method of carrying sugar cane, which is to place many differing consignments on one carrier. Cane from various consignments mixes together to make a blend of cane that possesses properties that are not representative of any of the consignments on board the carrier, and for analytical purposes should be discarded.

Invert Sugar
When sucrose is hydrolyzed, invert sugar can be produced. This is a sugar mixture which is half glucose and half fructose.

Java Ratio
Java ratio is the percentage ratio of the percentage of pol in cane to the percentage of pol in the first juice.

Juice

Absolute Juice: This juice only exists hypothetically, and is the mass of the sugar cane minus the mass of fiber. It is not possible to ever completely extract all the sugar and liquid present in the cane.

Clarified Juice: Juice which has been clarified.

Diffuser Juice: Juice removed from sugar cane or bagasse diffusers.

First Expressed Juice: The first juice which is extracted by the first two rollers.

First Mill Juice: The first juice extracted from the first mill.

Last Expressed Juice: The last juice extracted by the last rollers.

Last Mill Juice: The last juice extracted from the last mill.

Mixed Juice: The juice that is pumped to the juice scales from the extraction plant.

Press Water: The liquid removed when diffuser bagasse is dewatered.

Primary Juice: The combined juices prior to treatment.

Residual Juice: The juice present in bagasse, apart from the juice in first bagasse.

Secondary Juice: Diluted juice which is mixed with primary juice to make mixed juice.

Undiluted Juice: All the juice in the cane. Once again, this is fairly hypothetical as it is not possible to remove all juice in a useful fashion.

Magma
The mixture of sugar crystals and warm sugar liquor which is created in the first stages of the refining process.

Massecuites
Crystals and mother liquor which are removed from a vacuum pan as a liquid mixture. There are various grades of Massecuites, determined by their purity.

Milling Loss
A measurement describing the percentage ratio of pol (sucrose content) in bagasse compared to fiber in bagasse.

Molasses
A thick, dark, sweet, highly viscous substance separated from sugar at the beginning of the refining process.

Mud
This term refers to the sludge type material that is cleaned from the lower regions of the subsiders. This is made up of liquid and insoluble substances.

Non-Pol
A term used to describe the brix minus any pol (sugar content.)

Non-Pol Ratio
This describes the amount of non-pol in sugar, the non pol in final molasses, and non-pol in mixed juice.

Non-Sucrose
A term which describes the portion of the dry substance which is not sucrose.

Normal Mass
The normal mass of sucrose should be 26,000 g. This is determined by calculating the mass of dry sucrose, which when dissolved in 100 cubic centimeters of water at 20 degrees Celsius, and then read in a tub 200mm long, reads 100 degrees on the saccharimeter scale.

Nutch Sample
A sample of molasses removed prior to the curing of the massecuite.

Overall Recovery
A measurement which describes how much pol is recovered in sugar, compared to the sucrose in sugar cane.

Pol
The sucrose content when expressed as a percentage. Most refined sugar has a very high pol, as you would expect, between 99 – 100%. This measurement is called “pol”because it is determined by the polarization method.

Polysaccharides
A complex carbohydrate molecule where many saccharide molecules are bonded together.

Preparation Index
This is the percentage ratio of brix in ruptured cells, compared to the total amount of brix in the cane.

Purity
The ratio of pol to brix. Essentially this term describes how much pure sucrose is present in a sugar sample.

Reducing Sugars
These are sugars used in the reduction of Fehlings solution.

Reducing Sugar/Ash Ratio
This describes the ratio of reducing sugars compared to sulphated ash.

Reducing Sugar/Pol Ratio
This describes the ratio of reducing sugars to pol.

Safety Factor
This is a value which describes the “keeping quality” of fresh raw sugar which has a pol of less than 99%.

Saturated Solution
A saturated solution is one in which no more sugar crystals will dissolve, or be crystallized.

Solubility
The ability of a substance (referred to as a solute in many cases) to dissolve in a solution.

Solubility Coefficient of Sucrose
A measurement which describes the solubility of sucrose in a sample solution when compared to the solubility of sucrose in pure water under the same temperature conditions.

Sucrose
The form of sugar that is refined from sugar cane and sugar beet.

Sugar
The common term which is most often used to describe sucrose.

Sugar Cane
A tall, fibrous plant which naturally contains high levels of sucrose, and some glucose and fructose (though these are removed in the refining process). Sugar cane is scientifically classified as being a grass, and is a member of the genus Saccharum.

Supersaturation Coefficient Of Sucrose
This is the ratio which compares how much sucrose is present in a sample with the potential solubility of sucrose in the sample under constant conditions.

Syrup
In sugar production terms, this refers to concentrated juice which has a brix between 60 and 70 percent.

Wash
This is a term which can be used to describe the liquor which is removed after washing, and the liquor removed from magma.

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