Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Houma, Louisiana » Sugarcane Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #298055
Title: Temporal and varietal variation in sugarcane post-harvest residue biomass yields and chemical composition

Author
item White, Paul
item VIATOR, RYAN - Former ARS Employee
item Webber Iii, Charles

Submitted to: Industrial Crops and Products
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/23/2020
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Sugarcane (Saccharum offcinarum L.) post-harvest (PHR) is being considered as a bioenergy feedstock. However, information about the chemical composition of PHR on a field scale is not available. This test was conducted to measure the biomass quality and quantity of three commercial sugarcane varieties, L 99-233, L 99-226, and HoCP 96-540 across the typical Louisiana sugarcane harvest season. When averaged across 2009 and 2010 and varieties, the PHR lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and ash content were 4.7, 36.0, 31.5, and 0.7%, respectively. Variety affected biomass, lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and ash yield, indicating genetic variation in PHR. However, each variety displayed different chemical composition, but it did not vary significantly across the year evaluated. Thus, harvest scheduling for sugarcane can be focused on varieties with the greatest sucrose concentration knowing that PHR quality is stable across varieties. Sugarcane exhibited lower lignin levels for PHR relative to other crop residue sources and energy crops and this may be advantageous for conversion to ethanol.

Technical Abstract: Information on temporal and varietal variation in sugarcane (Saccharum offcinarum L.) post-harvest residue (PHR) composition as a biofuels feedstock at the field-scale has previously not been available. Post-harvest residue was collected every two weeks during the harvest seasons of 2009 and 2010 from L 99-233, L 99-226, and HoCP 96-540 and analyzed for biomass quantity and quality. Main effects for year, date, and variety were all highly significant (p=0.001) for biomass, lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and ash. Similarly for chemical concentrations, year and date were significant for lignin, cellulose, and ash concentrations (p=0.001). When averaged over the study period of 2009-2010 and across the three varieties utilized, PHR lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and ash content were 4.7, 36.0, 31.5, and 0.7%, respectively. There were no date by variety interactions indicating that both yield and quality changes over time within a season were consistent with the three varieties investigated in this study. Thus, harvest scheduling for sugarcane can be focused on varieties with the greatest sucrose concentration knowing that PHR quality is stable across varieties. Variety affected biomass, lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and ash yield, indicating genetic variation in PHR. The greatest variability was with lignin concentration. The lower lignin concentration for PHR relative to other crop residue sources and energy crops may be beneficial to biological conversion to alcohols.