Indigenous Brown Sugar Processing Technology in Nigeria : Past and On-going Research

Abstract

The effort to develop brown s u g a r p r o c e s s i n g technology in N i g e r i a w a s initiated by the F e d e r a l Government in 1986 through the Federal Ministry of Industries. The first prototype plant of 2 tons p e r d a y cane - c r u s h i n g capacity was designed, fabricated and tested by the National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi in 1988. Since then several research activities have been carried out in o r d e r to improve the efficiency of the plant and also up-grade its capacity. The basic unit processes are : weighing, crushing, clarification (liming, h e a t i n g and settling), evaporation, crystallization, centrifugation and drying. Designs of equipment for each of the unit processes were provided hy the Institutes engineers. Fahrication materials were procured locally and all the equipment were fabricated through indigenous effort. Test results of the prototype plant using three v a r i e t i e s of Sugarcane BD96-001, BD96-003 and BD96-009 indicated a v e r a g e sugar recovery rate of 6.3-6.5%. The quality of the sugar, compared with e x i s t i n g one at the N i g e r i a Sugar Company Limited (Nisucn), B a c i t a was also acceptable.