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Abstract: Clostridial fermentation during extraction contributes to an elevated content of volatile fatty acids in the process stream of a sugar factory and thus to impairment of molasses quality. Furthermore, unpleasant odor and elevated TOC emissions are bad side-effects. Hop products, introduced to the sugar industry by Zuckerforschung Tulln (ZFT), seem to be useful in controlling such misfermentation. A dosage can be triggered by a signal from an on-line hydrogen detector, when Clostridia appear. With periodic application of hop products, a parallelism between the appearance of butyric acid and an unknown, UV absorbing substance was observed, which was identified as uracil. Uracil has not yet been described in the context of microbiology of sugar production, but in contrast to volatile fatty acids, no inhibition of yeast growth has been observed. However, due to its characteristic UV absorption at 258 nm, it can serve as an HPLC-indicator to detect Clostridial fermentation in tower extractors.
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