Rhizomania beet storage

Hein, W.; Pollach, G.; Harzl, E.: Investigations on the storage behavior of Rhizomania tolerant sugarbeet varieties (CITS conference 2003, Madrid).
Zuckerindustrie 129 (2004) pp. 161-170. List of papers

Contents: The paper deals with the storage behavior, especially the formation of invert sugar of rhizomania tolerant and non-tolerant sugar beet varieties. The higher formation of invert sugar during storage is considered to be a reason for the higher color formation in thin and thick juices in the course of the campaign in Austria.
The varieties were cultivated on locations with different levels of risk with regard to an outbreak of the disease. The beet samples were stored in plastic mesh bags hung from beams in a ground cellar in order to ensure defined and consistent storage conditions at minimal costs. Samples were analyzed after one, two and three months and the increase of invert sugar was calculated. It was found that higher and visible different invert sugar contents only occurred after a storage period of two or three months. The highest increases of invert sugar were found in beet material at a location with a high risk of rhizomania outbreak, where the disease broke out despite cultivation of tolerant varieties. The same varieties showed a lower increase of the invert sugar content at a location where the outbreak of the disease was not so severe.
These increases were higher than those of non-tolerant varieties at locations with no risk of rhizomania. The so-called "Rizomania-Signal", which was calculated from the routinely determined beet components of sugar, sodium, potassium and α-aminoacid-nitrogen was taken as an indicator of outbreak of the disease. The results could be confirmed by repeating the trial in the following year. The knowledge that a higher formation of invert sugar occurs only after longer storage, was already used in the 2001 campaign to optimize storage logistics and to apply the "first in first out" principle consistently. This could also be one of the reasons why the color problems mentioned above did not affect the 2001 campaign so significantly.