An increased scientific interest in the colourants from vinasse began in the last decade of the 20 th century, when it was shown that some of them are toxic to animals and plants. The source of colourants in beet vinasse is not beet juice, which is colourless, but the process of obtaining white sugar from beet juice and the technology for producing ethanol from molasses. Dominant coloured compounds in sugar beet molasses vinasse (BMV) are formed in the processes of the degradation of sugars, particularly glucose and fructose. These monosaccharides are the result of the inversion of sucrose, which already occurs in the early stages of the production of beet sugar [1]. Under conditions of high temperature and acidic or alkaline pH, they are degraded to highly reactive intermediates, which, by condensation and polymerization, form coloured polymers. These compounds are formed without enzymes. The non-enzymatic reactions of the hexoses may produce melanoidins, invert alkaline degradation Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 28, No. 1 (2019), 385-392
AbstractVinasse is the waste product from the production of ethanol that is most loaded with pollutants. Known methods of treating vinasse allow for a reduction in the pollution load, but do not remove the brown colour. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the addition of yeast extract ( ), and different amounts of yeast extract addition (2.24, 4.48, and 8.96 g dm -3 ). It was observed that an increase in the YE dose in the medium was followed by a decrease in decolourization of the vinasse. The maximum decolourization was 28.36% ). Regardless of the YE amount added to the medium, removal of invert alkaline degradation products content in all experiments was at a similar level (approx. 13%). With an increased dose of YE, an increase in the caramel content was observed. The biggest melanoidins removal (62.3%) was found in the process with the highest YE dose. The acrylamide, 4-methylimidazole, furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and 2-acetyl-4-(1,2,3,4)-tetrahydroxy-butylimidazole were completely assimilated.