JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

Molasses are produced in large amounts by sugar cane and sugar beet factories every year. However, they are considered as the waste product of the crystallization plants. Thus, although they contain significant amounts of materials with deep black colour which can be separated as food colour, molasses are very cheap and feasible to be used for this purpose. Aliquots of diluted molasses, after adjusting the pH, were passed through the column followed by extraction with acidified alcohol. The highest yield of extraction (76.3%) was obtained by using diluted molasses (10° BX) and 150 ml of Amberlite resins. The solvent was removed and the solid colour was obtained by evaporating the water using a freeze drying system.

 The colour was characterized by determining its solubility, amount of ash, and sugar content and its colouring ability. Also, the stability of the colour under different conditions of acidic pH, temperature, and visible light was investigated. In addition, the colour values of the colour solution were measured by Hunter lab system.

The colour was compared with the imported caramel which is used in the black soft drinks of Zam Zam. Both had almost the same values of λ_max. Also, their sensitivities to pH changes were similar. Samples of soft drinks made by using the prepared colour were compared with those made by caramel under different conditions of storage such as temperature and light. On the whole, the colour was found to be a very suitable replacement for caramel in the production of black soft drinks.

 Also the colour was used as partial replacement for cocoa powder in making chocolate milk. The taste panel showed that cocoa powder can be replaced by the colour powder by 20% with almost no detectable differences. The caramel from molasses is safe and can be used as a food colour. The cost of production was estimated at about 10 Rials per gram of caramel. Thus, from an economical point of view, industrial production of caramel from molasses is profitable.