Abstract

The post-harvest storage of the sugar beet crop in Sweden occurs in the field. The harvest of roots generally ends along with the month of November, but the processing campaign can continue into February. The loss of quality of the stored roots during this period is economically important. This thesis groups the main mechanisms that results in loss of quality during post-harvest storage in two categories: plant health, and the storage environment. It focuses on the plant health dimension of mechanical properties, and the storage environment dimensions of moisture and temperature. 

The relationship between key agronomic inputs and mechanical properties and storability of sugar beet roots was investigated. Growing season available nitrogen and water were found to have little impact on mechanical properties. The storability of roots was found to decrease significantly when irrigation gave an optimal soil water availability throughout the season. This is likely a result of an interaction with an unspecified dimension of plant health. The quantification of sugar beet root mechanical properties with a traditional handheld penetrometer applied in-field was found to be reliable. It was also found that the methods used in the analysis of mechanical properties could be expanded to include the apparent modulus of elasticity and that fall-tests can be used to assess dynamic impacts. 

The use of a short, intense period of forced ventilation of a sugar beet bulk was found to lead to dehydration of sugar beet roots in a predictable manner. This resulted in increases to sucrose concentrations that would lead to greater gross income. Computational Fluid Dynamics modelling of the temperature within a clamp proved to be possible and insightful. The fluid dynamics within the clamp are important to include in such modelling.

Keywords

clamp; quality; mechanical properties; handheld penetrometer; forced ventilation; computational fluid dynamics; mass transfer; heat transfer

Published in

Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Sueciae
2023, number: 2023:36
ISBN: 978-91-8046-124-5, eISBN: 978-91-8046-125-2
Publisher: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

SLU Authors

• English, William

  • Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54612/a.66e26trq96

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/121684