Deterioration and fermentability of energy cane juice

Abstract

The main interest in the energy cane is the bioenergy production from the bagasse. The juice obtained after the cane milling may constitute a feedstock for the first-generation ethanol units; however, little attention has been dedicated to this issue. In order to verify the feasibility of the energy cane juice as substrate for ethanol production, the objectives of this research were first to determine the microbiological characteristics and deterioration along the time of the juices from two clones of energy cane (Type I) and second, their fermentability as feedstock for utilization in ethanol distilleries. There was a clear differentiation in the bacterial and yeast development of the sugarcane juices assayed, being much faster in the energy canes than in sugarcane. The storage of juice for 8 hours at 30oC did not cause impact in alcoholic fermentation for any sample analyzed, although a significant bacterial growth was detected in this period. A decrease of approximately seven percentage points in the fermentative efficiency was observed for energy cane juice in relation to sugarcane in a 24-hour fermentation cycle with the baking yeast. Despite the faster deterioration, the present research demonstrated that the energy cane juice has potential to be used as feedstock in ethanol-producing industries. As far as we know, it is the first research to deal with the characteristics of deterioration and fermentability of energy cane juices.

Effects of Energy Cane (Saccharum spp.) Juice on Corn Ethanol (Zea mays) Fermentation Efficiency: Integration towards a More Sustainable Production

“…Ceccato-Antonini et al (2017) claimed to be "the first research to deal with the characteristics of deterioration and fermentability of energy cane juices". In their study, the fermentation efficiencies of two energy canes VG11-X1 and VG11-X2 (initial sugars of 19.5% and 13.2%) were 54.9% and 56.1%, respectively [26], considerably lower than the value obtained in this study on the ECT, 80.6%. Li et al (2017) used 2% of yeast extract on a simultaneous fermentation and saccharification of corn starch for 72 h and obtained a fermentation efficiency of 84.5%, similar to the fermentation efficiency obtained in this study on the CT [44].…”

“…Besides that, when found, at 10 3 level, there was no significant difference among the treatments, which was expected, since all the experimental units were sterilized before starting the fermentation process, to avoid that the influence of contamination affects the performance of yeast and, consequently, the objective of the work to analyze the effect on fermentation of sugarcane juice energy integrated with corn. Although studies already show that energy cane being stored for 8 h at 30 • C does not affect fermentation [26], future studies may assess the need to sterilize energy cane juice before mixing with corn, or whether heating to the gelatinization step of hydrolysis could influence reducing or eliminating bacterial contamination brought on by energy cane.…”

“…In this context, we hypothesized that the energy cane would be a viable option to be integrated with the corn ethanol production in Brazil because (i) its bagasse can supply the industry energy demand, and (ii) its juice could replace the water in the corn dilution, providing sugars and reducing the amount of corn and enzymes used in the industry. However, in the literature, there are few studies on the fermentation of energy cane juice [26] and no study proposing the integration of cane juice with corn was found. Therefore, the effects of using the energy cane juice to dilute the corn in the fermentation process are unknown.…”

Designing the sensory profile of sugarcane juice extracted from different cultivars

“…Ratio is a useful parameter of sensory quality that indicates the maturity index of fruits and other plant‐based products such as sugarcane. Ceccato‐Antonini, Bassi, Paraluppi, dos Santos, and Matsuoka (2017) reported a soluble solids content of 14.4 °Brix and a pH of 5.45 for juice extracted from cultivar RB867515. Meerod, Weerawatanakorn, and Pansak (2019) reported a pH of 5.37.…”

Classifying Hybrids of Energy Cane for Production of Bioethanol and Cogeneration of Biomass-Based Electricity by Principal Component Analysis-Linked Fuzzy C-Means Clustering Algorithm

“…Type I is qualitatively and quantitatively closer to sugarcane crop, with a higher sucrose to fiber ratio and viability for production of biomass-to-solid, biomass-to-liquid and biomass-to-gaseous fuels, dehydrated alcohol for transportation, refined sugar, yeast-fermented alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, hydrolyzed silage and high-quality fodder. Type II has lower sucrose to fiber ratio, suitable low moisture lignocellulose to cogenerate heat and electricity in high temperature and pressure furnace-boiler system, as well as low-pressure steam for distillation of fuel and sugar cooking (Santchurn et al, 2012;Gouy et al, 2015;Ceccato-Antonini et al, 2017). Exploratory data analysis (EDA) tools such as principal component analysis and fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm could accurately classify genotypes of energy cane expected to supply sugar, ethanol and electricity markets into the next years.…”