What do you know about sugar beet? This venerable vegetable has been grown for centuries and is prized today for its many qualities!

A traditional and healthy vegetable grown sustainably and in an environmentally friendly manner, it’s a plant rich in nutrients that is used to produce Actilight® Fibre via a bioconversion process inspired by nature.

About sugar beet

Sugar beet is grown for its fleshy root used mainly to produce sugar. Sugar is formed in its leaves through photosynthesis and then stored in the root.

Sugar beet growing

Sugar beet is produced here in Europe. In France, we grow the sugar beet used to make Actilight® Fibre in the northern regions of Normandy and Picardy because it needs a wet, temperate climate. It’s a delicate plant that needs good soil that is rich and deep.

Bioconversion of sugar beet into fibre

Tereos produces the oligofructose Actilight® Fibre from sugar beet, using a bioconversion process inspired by nature. Fibre is obtained from the sugar extracted from sugar beet. As during fermentation, sugar is converted by an enzyme produced by a fungus, carefully selected by Tereos for its natural ability to convert sugar into fibre. Of course, we do not use GMOs.

More generally, oligofructose (also known as fructooligosaccharides) is found naturally in foods such as wheat, barley, rye, asparagus, bananas, artichokes, garlic, onions and many others. Actilight® Fibre is a fibre concentrate. One teaspoon of Actilight® contains the quantity of fibre found in 10 bananas, 700 g of rye or 40 cloves of garlic.