The invention relates to a cooling crystallizer (2.0) for saccharose magma in a vertically oriented container (2.1) which has an upper inlet (2.2) for supplying magma and a lower outlet (2.3) for discharging magma, comprising multiple cooling blocks (5.0) which are mutually spaced in a vertical direction. A heat carrier fluid flows through the cooling blocks (5.0), and the cooling blocks are coupled to a heat exchanger in order to dissipate heat from the magma, wherein multiple cooling blocks (5.0) are combined to form a cooling packet (5.1; 5.2), and the cooling packets (5.1; 5.2) are designed as separate cooling circuits with separate heat exchangers (2.1.2; 2.2.2).

The invention relates to a continuous method for obtaining a crystalline monosaccharide, comprising: continuous crystallization of the monosaccharide in a main crystallizer (10), wherein crystallization by evaporation and/or crystallization by cooling is carried out continuously on a crystal suspension in the main crystallizer in order to allow crystals of the monosaccharide to grow in the crystal suspension; separation of crystals of the monosaccharide out of the crystal suspension to obtain crystalline monosaccharide; continuous formation of a mass of crystallization magma for the main crystallizer (10) in a cascade, wherein the cascade comprises at least one first stage (13) and a final stage (15) connected in series and each stage comprises at least one pre-crystallizer (13A, 15A), wherein, in the at least one pre-crystallizer (13A) of the first stage (13), a solution is seeded with monosaccharide by means of monosaccharide seed crystals in order to obtain a pre-crystallization magma, and a mass of crystallization magma for the downstream stage (14, 15) is formed from the pre-crystallization magma by means of crystallization by cooling and/or crystallization by evaporation, and wherein a solution containing monosaccharide and a mass of crystallization magma from the upstream stage is supplied to the at least one pre-crystallizer (15A, 15B, 15C) of the final stage (15) to obtain a pre-crystallization magma, and in the at least one pre-crystallizer (15A, 15B, 15C) of the final stage (15) a mass of crystallization magma for the main crystallizer (10) is formed from the pre-crystallisation magma by means of crystallization by cooling and/or crystallization by evaporation; the continuous supply of a solution containing the monosaccharide and a mass of crystallization magma from the at least one pre-crystallizer (15A, 15B, 15C) of the final stage (15) of the cascade to the main crystallizer (10) to provide the crystal suspension.

A method of making a flavoured sweetener or food product by incubating an unrefined plant extract containing sucrose as the main solute with a microorganism or microorganisms to form a modified unrefined plant extract; evaporating water from the modified sucrose-based plant extract to form a concentrate; and cooking the concentrate to develop colour and flavour to produce the flavoured sweetener is disclosed. The flavoured sweetener can serve as a coconut sugar substitute. In a preferred embodiment the unrefined plant extract comprises sugarcane juice or sugar beet juice, and the microorganisms may be selected from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus flexus, or a Klyveromyces species. The flavoured sweetener can be used to make a range of food and beverage ingredients and also food products including sauces, natural flavour extracts and flavour molecules, chocolate, health foods and convenience forms of the various forms of flavoured sweeteners.

The invention relates to a cooling crystallizer (2.0) for saccharose magma in a vertically oriented container (2.1) which has an upper inlet (2.2) for supplying magma and a lower outlet (2.3) for discharging magma, comprising multiple cooling blocks (5.0) which are mutually spaced in a vertical direction. A heat carrier fluid flows through the cooling blocks (5.0), and the cooling blocks are coupled to a heat exchanger in order to dissipate heat from the magma, wherein multiple cooling blocks (5.0) are combined to form a cooling packet (5.1; 5.2), and the cooling packets (5.1; 5.2) are designed as separate cooling circuits with separate heat exchangers (2.1.2; 2.2.2).

Preferred embodiments of the present invention comprise the optional application of concentrations of an aqueous permanganate solution, such as an approximately 0.01% to approximately 50% liquid permanganate solution and preferably comprising approximately 20% sodium permanganate dosed at approximately 1 ppm to approximately 100 ppm to harvested sugar crops, such as sugarcane, sugar beets, and sweet sorghum, at one or more of the sugar processing steps for the crops. The steps where the liquid sodium permanganate may optionally be applied include at a sugar crop cutting step, a sugar crop conveying step, a sugar juice extraction step, a sugar juice clarifying step, and a clarifier muds filtration step. The application of liquid sodium permanganate in the processing of sugar from sugar crops results in reduced equipment fouling, reduced loss in juice purity, reduced scale formation, decreased turbidity in clarified juices, increased sugarcane processing rates, reduced sugar crop production costs, increased sugar product yield, and increased production capacity.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention comprise the optional application of concentrations of an aqueous permanganate solution, such as an approximately 0.01% to approximately 50% liquid permanganate solution and preferably comprising approximately 20% sodium permanganate dosed at approximately 1 ppm to approximately 100 ppm to harvested sugar crops, such as sugarcane, sugar beets, and sweet sorghum, at one or more of the sugar processing steps for the crops. The steps where the liquid sodium permanganate may optionally be applied include at a sugar crop cutting step, a sugar crop conveying step, a sugar juice extraction step, a sugar juice clarifying step, and a clarifier muds filtration step. The application of liquid sodium permanganate in the processing of sugar from sugar crops results in reduced equipment fouling, reduced loss in juice purity, reduced scale formation, decreased turbidity in clarified juices, increased sugarcane processing rates, reduced sugar crop production costs, increased sugar product yield, and increased production capacity.

A sugar liquid or solid sugar is derived from cellulose-containing biomass or blackstrap molasses, wherein content of one or more free amino acids selected from the group consisting of serine, threonine, asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamine, glutamic acid, proline, phenyl alanine, lysine, and histidine, which are impurities, is below the limit of detection.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention comprise the optional application of concentrations of an aqueous permanganate solution, such as an approximately 0.01% A to approximately 50% liquid permanganate solution and preferably comprising approximately 20% sodium permanganate dosed at approximately 1 ppm to approximately 100 ppm to harvested sugar crops, such as sugarcane, sugar beets, and sweet sorghum, at one or more of the sugar processing steps for the crops. The steps where the liquid sodium permanganate may optionally be applied include at a sugar crop cutting step, a sugar crop conveying step, a sugar juice extraction step, a sugar juice clarifying step, and a clarifier muds filtration step. The application of liquid sodium permanganate in the processing of sugar from sugar crops results in reduced equipment fouling, reduced loss in juice purity, reduced scale formation, decreased turbidity in clarified juices, increased sugarcane processing rates, reduced sugar crop production costs, increased sugar product yield, and increased production capacity.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention comprise the optional application of concentrations of an aqueous permanganate solution, such as an approximately 0.01% A to approximately 50% liquid permanganate solution and preferably comprising approximately 20% sodium permanganate dosed at approximately 1 ppm to approximately 100 ppm to harvested sugar crops, such as sugarcane, sugar beets, and sweet sorghum, at one or more of the sugar processing steps for the crops. The steps where the liquid sodium permanganate may optionally be applied include at a sugar crop cutting step, a sugar crop conveying step, a sugar juice extraction step, a sugar juice clarifying step, and a clarifier muds filtration step. The application of liquid sodium permanganate in the processing of sugar from sugar crops results in reduced equipment fouling, reduced loss in juice purity, reduced scale formation, decreased turbidity in clarified juices, increased sugarcane processing rates, reduced sugar crop production costs, increased sugar product yield, and increased production capacity.

A process comprises concentrating a whey composition to at least about 75 weight % solids in one or more evaporators connected in series to form a concentrated whey composition, wherein at least one of the evaporators comprises an evaporator configured to agitate the whey composition within the at least one evaporator, crystallizing at least a portion of the lactose in the concentrated whey composition in a crystallization cascade comprising one or more crystallizing stages to form an at least partially-crystallized whey composition and drying the at least partially-crystallized whey composition to form a dried whey product.