Journal on Processing and Energy in Agriculture 18 (2014) 4 179 Biblid: 1821-4487 (2014) 18; 4; p 179-181 Original Scientific Paper UDK: 664.151.3 Originalni naučni rad DETERMINATION OF BETAINE IN SUGAR BEET MOLASSES ODREĐIVANJE BETAINA U MELASI ŠEĆERNE REPE Jelena KRULJ*, Rada JEVTIĆ-MUČIBABIĆ*, Jasna GRBIĆ*, Jovana BRKLJAČA*, Ivan MILOVANOVIĆ*, Bojana FILIPČEV*, Marija BODROŽA-SOLAROV* *University of Novi Sad, Institut of Food Technology, Bulevar cara Lazara 1, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia e-mail: jelena.krulj@fins.uns.ac.rs ABSTRACT Sugar beet molasses, a concentrate of mineral elements and a number of bioactive compounds, can be useful to supplement a range of components in the production of enriched food products. The quality of molasses as a raw material in the food industry was investigated in this paper. The basic chemical composition, as well as betaine content in the molasses produced in the domestic sugar factories, were analyzed. Betaine constitutes one of the principal non-sugar organic matter in molasses. Betaine content, which has a significant role in the functioning of human organism, was determined by HPLC method. Key words: betaine, sugar beet molasses, HPLC. REZIME Melasa šećerne repe, kao koncentrat biogenih elemenata (kalijum, kalcijum, magnezijum, natrijum) i niza bioaktivnih jedinjenja (proteini, betain, glutaminska kiselina, purinske i pirimidinske baze, organske kiseline, melanoidini) svrstava se u sirovinu koja može da upotpuni asortiman korisnih sastojaka u proizvodnji obogaćenih prehrambenih proizvoda. Hemijski sastav melase zavisi od kvaliteta šećerne repe i primenjene tehnologije prerade. Kvalitet repe je uslovljen faktorima kao što su sorta repe, tehnička zrelost repe, primenjena agrotehnika, lokalitet uzgoja, kao i promene do kojih dolazi tokom skladištenja šećerne repe. Glavni sastavni deo melase čine ugljeni hidrati, i to prvenstveno saharoza, ali su u znatnom procentu prisutni i nešećeri čiji je kvalitativni i kvantitativni sastav od osnovne važnosti za ocenu pogodnosti melase kao sirovi ne u prerađivačkim, fermentativnim i prehrambenim industrijama. Ukoliko su faktori od kojih zavisi sastav melase u opsegu uobičajenih vrednosti dobija se melasa standardnog kvaliteta pogodna za industrijsko korišćenje, kao i za duže skladištenje bez primetnih gubitaka u komercijalnoj vrednosti. Oko jedne trećine azotnih materija melase čini betain, a ostalo amino-kiseline, amidi, belančevine, melanoidini i u maloj količini soli amonijaka. U radu je ispitan kvalitet melase sa aspekta njene primene kao sirovine u prehrambenoj industriji. U tom cilju analizaran je osnovni hemijski sastav, kao i sadržaj betaina u melasi proizvedenoj u šest domaćih fabrika šećera (A, B, C, D, E i F). Betain ima značajnu ulogu u funkcionisanju ljudskog organizma, učvršćuje krvne sudove, reguliše krvni pritisak i smanjuje holesterol u krvi, podstiče razmenu materija i funkciju jetre. Sadržaj betaina je određen primenom tečne hromatografije visokih performansi (HPLC) u razblaženjima rastvora melase u voda-metanol sistemu. Najveći sadržaj betaina pronađen je u uzorcima B i E u opsegu 3,37-4,28%, dok se manji sadržaj betaina u uzorcima A, C, D i F kreće u opsegu 2,42-3,32%. U tehnološkom procesu proizvodnje šećera, betain prolazi nepromenjen kroz faze procesa i gotovo kvantitativno prelazi u melasu. Rezultati pokazuju da postoji značajna razlika u sadržaju betaina u melasama iz različitih fabrika, što je posledica različitog kvaliteta šećerne repe. Ključne reči: betain, melasa šećerne repe, HPLC. INTRODUCTION Molasses, which is a by-product of the sugar industry, is a relatively inexpensive and readily available raw material. It represents liquid mixture of sugar, nonsucrose compounds and water from which, sucrose in form of relatively pure crystals, can not be obtained so that its production would be economically justified. Sugar beet molasses generally contains high amount of sucrose (ca. 50%), and is rich in mineral elements (potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium) and bioactive compounds (proteins, betaine, glutamic acid, purine and pyrimidine bases, vitamins, organic acids, melanoidins) (Ergun and Mutlu, 2000; Jevtić-Mučibabić et al., 2013; Özgür et al., 2010). The quality of molasses is related to the quality of sugarbeet, the processing aids and the applied processing technology (Grbić et al., 2011). A significant part of the molasses produced is used for the production of industrially value-added and enriched food products. Molasses is applied in many food or non-food processes because of high content of nitrogenous compounds, carbohydrates and its sweet taste. It is among the most important raw materials for industrial cultivations especially for the production of baker’s yeast, ethanol, citric acid, organic acids, amino acids, antibiotics, and enzymes (Yilmaztekin et al., 2008). It has also been known that beet is the main source of betaine, and commercially available betaine is obtained as a natural by-product of the sugar beet industry. Being soluble in water, betaine is extracted from sugar beets, along with sugar and other compounds, in the process of producing sugar from beets. It has a significant role in the functioning of human organism as a tissue osmolyte and as a source of methyl groups, and the supply of betaine clearly affects lipid metabolism (Lever and Slow, 2010). Betaine (N,N,N-trimethylglycine) can be used in the cosmetic, animal feedstock, pharmaceutical and health industries (Escudero and Ruiz, 2011). It is the anhydride of (carboxymethyl)trimethylammonium hydroxide and exists with either an open or an internally linked structure. Owing to the presence of the trimethylamino group, it has the characteristics of a nitrogenous base (Vialle et al., 1981). The objective of this study was to: 1) investigate the chemical composition of molasses produced in the domestic sugar factories; 2) test and adopt reliable betaine extraction and quantification procedures; 3) determine quantity of betaine in selected sugar beet molasses.