The LSU AgCenter's Audubon Sugar Institute (ASI) hosted its annual Introduction to the Technology of Raw Sugar Production course on August 5-6, 2026. The course is organized and taught each year by Dr. Stephania Imbachi Ordonez and provides participants with a practical overview of raw sugar manufacturing operations and the scientific principles behind them

This year's course attracted 11 participants from Louisiana sugar factories, along with J. Greg Darby, Director of Technology at Pine Island Chemical Solutions.

A new addition to the instructional team was Dr. Ricardo Garcia Carcamo, who expanded the course content by providing more in-depth coverage of sucrose crystallization and sugar color, two topics of critical importance to efficient sugar production and quality control.

Course topics included:

• Cane harvesting and storage
• Milling and juice extraction
• Clarification and mud filtration
• Evaporation
• Crystallization
• Centrifugation
• Sugar handling
• Sugar refining
• Mass balances and sucrose losses
• Utilities, energy, and environmental considerations in sugar production.