Clarification of sugarcane juice: review

Abstract

The search for alternative methods to replace sulfur in the sugarcane juice clarification step has been increasing. The sulfur dioxide (SO2) produced in the combustion of sulfur is toxic and can cause environmental problems and risks to human health. This work aimed to analyze scientific articles on alternative methods to sulfitation published between 2011 and 2021, based on searches in the Portal de Periódicos Capes, Scielo and Web of Science. Among the 434 researched scientific articles, 296 were repeated and 138 were unique, of which 94 had the text available in full and 44, unavailable. Thirty were selected to compose this review, for reporting on alternative methods of clarification: carbonation (4), ozonation (6), peroxidation (5), microfiltration (6), natural flocculants (5), bagasse fly ash (1), centrifugation (1), lime, bentonite and activated carbon (1), lime saccharate, ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) (1). All methods proved to be effective and less polluting, in addition to reducing the consumption of chemical reagents.