Evaluation of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) Powder and Nano CaO as Alternative Clarifiers for Lime in the Processing of Sugarcane Juice

The processing of sugar production to achieve purity with high yield presents challenges to the sugar industry. Clarification is one of the critical processes that call for additional clarifiers. In this context, the current study evaluates the efficacy of nano CaO and okra powders to clarify cane juice. A CaO nanoparticle was prepared and characterized through XRD, FAAS, and SEM. The extracted sugarcane (B52-298 variety) juice was clarified using different clarifiers such as Okra, calcium oxide nanoparticles (CaO NPs), laboratory calcium oxide (N-CaO), and their mixtures. The current study assessed the clarification efficacy by varying the clarification process parameters (amount of clarifier, volume of juice, pH, time, and temperature) with turbidity, mud volume, and settling rate using a conventional approach. Based on the reduction of turbidities, the clarification efficiency of studied clarifiers ranked as CaO NPs ≥ N-CaO (control) ≥ Okra ≥ N-CaO + Okra ≥ CaO NPs + Okra. Furthermore, physicochemical characterizations of raw juice, clarified juice, and the final sugar were carried out for the three clarified juices using CaO NPs, CaONP + Okra, and N-CaO + Okra. The study’s findings thus indicated these novel clarifiers are promising for industrial and domestic applications as they produce quality white sugars.