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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Commodity Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #221006
Title: Cell Wall Composition of Sugarcane and Related Saccharum Species

Author
item Lingle, Sarah
item Tew, Thomas
item Hale, Anna
item Cobill, Robert

Submitted to: Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2008
Publication Date: 5/4/2008
Citation: Lingle, S.E., Tew, T.L., Hale, A.L., Cobill, R.M. 2008. Cell Wall Composition in Sugarcane and Related Saccharum Species [abstract]. Abstracts of the 30th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Society for Industrial Microbiology, May 4-8, 2008. New Orleans, LA. p. 17.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) has great potential to provide feedstock to a biofuel industry in the United States. Sucrose from sugarcane can easily be fermented into ethanol. Sugarcane and related species also yield large amounts of biomass that would be suitable for conversion to biofuel. There is limited information on the composition of the biomass from sugarcane. This study was done to determine the cell wall composition of the residue left after expressing the juice from the stalks of a sample of different Saccharum genotypes. Ninety-six Saccharum genotypes representing commercial cultivars and wild species were grown in cans during the spring and summer of 2006. In August 2006, plants were harvested by cutting at soil level. Plant material was chipped, and juice was expressed from a 1000-g sample. The remaining fiber cake was dried, and then ground through a 1 mm screen. Cell wall composition was determined on duplicate 0.5 g samples by sequential extraction using neutral detergent (NDF), acid detergent (ADF), and 72% H2SO4 (ADL). Remaining residue was then ashed. The composition of the fiber cakes ranged from 8 to 22% soluble material, 28 to 35% hemicellulose, 40 to 52% cellulose, and 7 to 14% lignin. This is lower than some earlier reports of lignin content in sugarcane bagasse, possibly due to the ADL method used to determine lignin, which underestimates lignin in grasses.