Process for the recovery of betaine from molasses

A process for the recovery of betaine from a sugar beet molasses said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a starting material containing between 45 and 65 wt. % sucrose, between 3 and 8 wt. % betaine, between 6 and 10 wt. % amino acids, as well as fructose, glucose and inorganic salts, wherein the starting material comprises a sugar beet molasses by-product formed in a process for preparation of sucrose,
• a conversion step, in which the sugar beet molasses starting material is first subjected to the action of a fructan-forming enzyme, having endo-inulinase activity and/or fructosyltransferase activity, whereby at least 80 wt % of the sucrose contained in the sugar beet molasses is converted to form a fructo-oligosaccharide- containing molasses (FOS-molasses);
• and
• a separation step, in which the FOS-molasses from the conversion step is subjected to a chromatographic separation, thereby obtaining a betaine-containing fraction having a ratio of betaine to other dry-matter constituents of the FOS-molasses of at least 70:30, wherein:
• prior to the separation step the FOS-molasses from the conversion step is heated to a temperature of between 80-90° C. and held at such temperature for between 5 and 30 minutes to deactivate the enzyme and reduce any bacteria that may be present in the FOS-molasses,
• the separation step is accomplished by ion-exchange chromatography in a simulated moving bed chromatography system,
• a cation exchange resin is used in the ion-exchange chromatographic separation step, and
• prior to the separation step the molasses or the fructan-molasses is subjected to an ion-exchange step, whereby the concentration of those cations in the molasses or in the fructan-molasses that are different from the cation exchange resin, is reduced by at least 90%.