Florida citrus molasses as a fermentation substrate: I. Free amino acids in molasses from early and midseason varieties of citrus fruits during 2 years of production.

Samples of midseason Florida citrus molasses from 10 different manufacturing plants were studied during 2 years of production for suitability as fermentation substrates. They were analyzed for degrees Brix, pH, percentage of protein, and free amino acid content. The following ranges of values were obtained: degrees Brix, 65.4 to 73.0; pH, 4.2 to 6.4; and protein, 3.3 to 5.1%. Although the general characteristics of all samples were quite similar, the total free amino acid content and the number of amino acids differed from year to year and from plant to plant. The free amino acids consistently present were asparagine, aspartic acid, alanine, gamma-amino-butyric, glycine, glutamic acid, proline, serine, and threonine. Occasionally found were arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and valine. An extremely high level of proline was detected in all samples.