Evaluation of acetoin production and recovery from under-utilized sugar streams

Authors: Terrell, Evan; Klasson, Kjell; PANCIO, BRETLYN - Orise Fellow

Submitted to: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/7/2026
Publication Date: 2/24/2026
Citation: Terrell, E.C., Klasson, K.T., Pancio, B.T. 2026. Evaluation of acetoin production and recovery from under-utilized sugar streams. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. 106:pg 4655-4665. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.70553.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.70553

Interpretive Summary: The production of raw sugar from sugar cane and sugar beets generates large volumes of syrup co-products, which are themselves high in sugar. These syrup streams are under-utilized, and may be taken advantage of to generate new products and revenue for the sugar industry. In this work, we evaluated the use of sugarcane and sugar beet molasses for the production of acetoin, a higher-value chemical produced during bacterial fermentation of sugar syrups. We also evaluated the cost of production for acetoin and compared to global markets. The production of acetoin shows promise for future development in support of improving economic sustainability of sugar crop agriculture industries.

Technical Abstract: A number of existing low-value sugar streams are generated when table sugar is produced from sugar beet and sugar cane. In addition, sweet sorghum is a promising crop for sugar syrup production. These materials were evaluated as sugar sources for acetoin production by Bacillus subtilis in shaker flasks and stirred fermenters. The recovery of acetoin from fermentation broth via salting- or sugaring-out extraction was also studied. Based on experimental data and published studies, we performed an economic study on a process to produce acetoin via fermentation and its recovery via extraction followed by distillation. The process was evaluated on three scales that resulted in production costs ranging from $17-175/kg of acetoin. This demonstrated the feasibility of the process, as the estimated sales price is $40/kg. Thus, the process appears economically feasible if the scale is appropriate. For the base case studied, the production cost was approximately $30/kg of acetoin for a facility producing 1.33·106 kg/year from sugar beet extract. This represents about 27 % of the global acetoin market. This work demonstrates a potential new revenue stream for the sugarcane and sugar beet processing industry. This is achieved through effective valorization of low-value molasses streams via fermentation for acetoin production. The production of acetoin, or other platform chemicals, shows promise for future development in support of improving economic sustainability of sugar crop agriculture industries.