Optimization of enzymatic pretreatment of raw sugar beet juice using response surface methodology

In this research, response surface based on central composite design (3-factor 5-level) was applied to estimate the efficacy of independed variables on quality indexes (depended variables) of raw beet juice. Hence, the effect of different durations (20-100 min), temperatures (40-55 °C), and at various concentration level of pectinase (0.001-0.02 % v/v) on viscosity, color, turbidity and purity of sugar beet juice were investigated and successfully coordinated by a second-order polynomial model (R2 > 0. 85). The experiments indicated that the temperature was the most important variable affecting the characteristics of the raw juice as it exposes a significant effect on the responses. The optimum enzymatic treatment condition from the study was at 0.012 % enzyme concentration at 49 C for 65 min.