The application of high intensity electric field pulses (HELPs) on the cell disintegration of sugar beet cells was investigated. HELP treatment (20 pulses, similar to2.5 kV/cm, 5 muF, 1-6 Hz) rapidly performed disintegration of sugar beet cell membranes in 20 s or less. In particular, field strength (1.2-21.5 kV/cm) and pulse number (1-200) had a key influence on the disintegration. Apart from the conventional thermal cell disintegration (at 75-80degreesC) followed by extraction, it is possible to extract sugar beet after HELP-pretreatment at ambient temperatures. HELP permeabilized sugar beet can be completely depleted of sucrose after one or two pressing steps (at 2 or 5 MPa, respectively) by adding water (less than 40% of the raw material weight) between the pressings. The HELP-treated and subsequently pressed pulp showed higher dry matter (similar to30% dry matter) than the conventionally heat extracted and pressed pulp (similar to15% dry matter) which provides a significant reduction in process time and energy requirement during dehydration of the extracted cossets. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.