Effects of different irrigation and fertilization levels on sugar beet bioethanol and bioplastic production

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of different irrigation and fertilization levels on the yield and quality of bioethanol and bioplastic obtained from sugar beet molasses. A two-year trial (2019-2020) was conducted at Bursa Uludag University Yenişehir İbrahim Orhan Vocational School Application Area. Physical analyzes of sugar beet roots and bioplastic production processes from molasses were carried out in the faculty’s food laboratory, and nutrient content analysis of molasses was carried out in Bursa Food and Feed Control Research Institute. In the study, four different irrigation treatment were combined with three different fertilization treatments to form twelve different study treatments and drip irrigation system was applied to ensure controlled irrigation-fertilization levels. In the study, the highest and lowest irrigation water amounts and plant water consumption values were calculated as 800.0-200.0 mm, 854.0-342.0 mm and 880.0-220.0 mm, 842.0-336.0 mm, respectively. The highest and lowest sugar beet root yields, molasses ratios of roots and bio-ethanol ratios produced from molasses varied between 116.8-34.8 t ha-1, 18.0-14.7 (%), 34.0-24.3 (%) and 112.1-36.9 t ha-1, 17.2-14.7 (%), 34.8-24.5 (%), respectively. As the amount of irrigation water increased, sugar content, molasses and bio-ethanol ratios decreased, while as the level of fertilization increased, sugar content, molasses and bio-ethanol ratios increased. In recent years, due to the increasing demand for synthetic polymers and their inability to decompose in nature for a long time, there has been a shift towards bioplastic production. Bioplastic (PHP) is produced from natural resources such as sugar beet molasses. In the study, the bioplastic production efficiency was investigated at 3% and 2% molasses concentrations.