Cuba to test an enzyme in sugar mills to improve sugar quality

HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 27 (ACN) A dextranase enzyme developed in Cuba will be tested this year in the country's sugar industries to improve the quality of raw and refined sugar, stated PhD in Sciences Mario Pablo Estrada Garcia, director of Agricultural Research at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB).

The project on this type of catalyst is led by this scientific institution along with the Cuban Research Institute of Sugarcane Derivatives (ICIDCA by its Spanish acronym), and its implementation will allow the product to be inserted in the international market, the expert explained exclusively to the Cuban News Agency.

On this matter, PhD in Sciences Raul Sabadí Díaz, director of Sugar Technology and Energy of ICIDCA, affirmed that its application will favor the control of dextran: polluting microorganisms from sucrose, which cause significant losses by increasing the viscosity in the flows and reducing the industrial recovery in the sugar mills.

In the marketing of sugar in the world, high dextran values are penalized, which affects the price of the goods and limits the obtaining of contracts, the specialist also said in statements to Cuban News Agency.

Sabadi Diaz explained that the enzyme has been produced in small quantities and will be implemented in 2021 in three sugar mills in the eastern and western regions of Cuba.

He added that so far this type of product has been purchased at a price close to 20,000 dollars per ton, but its Cuban variant could replace imports when its effectiveness and production cost are assessed.

The CIGB also produces other bioproducts with an impact on this sector, including fructooligosaccharides (FOS), which are a functional, low-calorie and prebiotic food; in other words, they contain a non-fattening sugar and several health benefits, since they suppress the growth of some pathogenic bacteria.

This innovation surpasses up to 10 times the value of traditional sugar, which ranges between 300 and 350 dollars per ton in the international market.