Question
Question: Name the products and by-products of the sugar industry?...
Name the products and by-products of the sugar industry?
Solution
Any industry involves the processing or manufacturing of a particular product through a series of reactions or steps but each step generates some additional compound which is different from the desired product and needs to be segregated, such additional compounds are called by-products.
Complete answer:
The sugar industries mainly process sugarcanes or sugar beets to obtain a crystallized form of sugar that can be used for commercial purposes. The different industrial processes carried out during the production of sugar produce certain by-products.
Many of these by-products are chemical wastes that need to be disposed of and cannot be used for any other purpose or reaction. But a few important by-products of the sugar industry that can be used for other purposes are molasses and bagasse.
Molasses are a chemical combination of fermentable carbohydrates like glucose, fructose water and some other reducible sugars. It is the syrup obtained after the first crystallization step that takes place in a sugar industry. A substantial amount of sugar that does not get extracted in the initial rounds of crystallization remains in molasses.
Bagasse also known as beet pulp is the leftover wet pulp formed during the processing of sugar. It can be used as fuel in sugarcane mills or as an animal feedstock.
Thus, the product of the sugar industry is sugar and the important by-products are Molasses and Bagasse.
Note:
A large portion of beet pulp or bagasse is exported because of its use as livestock and fuel. Bagasse is a rich source of cellulose, digestible fibre and energy due to which it can be used for feeding animals.