D.A. Cooke and R.K. Scott Sugar beet is one of just two crops (the other being sugar cane) which constitute the only important sources of sucrose - a product with sweeten ing and preserving properties that make it a major component of, or additive to, a vast range of foods, beverages and pharmaceuticals. Sugar, as sucrose is almost invariably called, has been a valued compo nent of the human diet for thousands of years. For the great majority of that time the only source of pure sucrose was the sugar-cane plant, varieties of which are all species or hybrids within the genus Saccharum. The sugar-cane crop was, and is, restricted to tropical and subtropical regions, and until the eighteenth century the sugar produced from it was available in Europe only to the privileged few. However, the expansion of cane production, particularly in the Caribbean area, in the late seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, and the new sugar-beet crop in Europe in the nineteenth century, meant that sugar became available to an increasing proportion of the world's population.

The first all-in-one reference for the beet-sugar industry Beet-Sugar Handbook is a practical and concise reference for technologists, chemists, farmers, and research personnel involved with the beet-sugar industry. It covers: * Basics of beet-sugar technology * Sugarbeet farming * Sugarbeet processing * Laboratory methods of analysis The book also includes technologies that improve the operation and profitability of the beet-sugar factories, such as: * Juice-softening process * Molasses-softening process * Molasses-desugaring process * Refining cane-raw sugar in a beet-sugar factory The book ends with a review of the following: * Environmental concerns of a beet-sugar factory * Basics of science related to sugar technology * Related tables for use in calculations Written in a conversational, engaging style, the book is user friendly and practical in its presentation of relevant scientific and mathematical concepts for readers without a significant background in these areas. For ease of use, the book highlights important notes, defines technical terms, and presents units in both metric and British systems. Operating problem-solving related to all stations of sugarbeet processing, frequent practical examples, and given material/energy balances are other special features of this book.

This book contains 8 chapters on the environmental impact of the cultivation and processing of sugarcane and sugarbeet. The chapters are entitled: (1) background; (2) overview; (3) water consumption; (4) impacts on water quality and aquatic ecosystems; (5) impacts on terrestrial biodiversity; (6) impacts on soils; (7) atmospheric impacts; and (8) use and impacts of byproducts. This book will be of significant interest to policymakers, industry practitioners and researchers in sugar, crop, soil, water and environmental sciences.