Evaluation of potential ethanol production and nutrients for four varieties of sweet sorghum during maturation

Abstract

Sweet sorghum was investigated to an alternate feedstock for fuel ethanol production. juices from 4 sorghum varieties (BRS 506, BRS 508, BRS 509, BRS 511 and BRS); all developed by Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) Maize and Sorghum) were evaluated for sugar, starch and nutrient contents and theoretical ethanol yields. The levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, starch and sugars (glucose, fructose and sucrose) were measured weekly over a period of 70 days. Fermentations were performed using yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. BRS 508, BRS 509 and BRS 511 showed potential to be useful for industrial applications for maturities exceeding 30 days. BRS 511 showed the highest sugar production, with levels higher than 140 g/L during the majority of the experiment and reaching a maximum of 191 g/L. All varieties showed similar behaviors with respect to nutrient content, which was characterized by a decrease in nutrient concentrations over the period analyzed. Juice from BRS 508 was successfully fermented within 8 h with a productivity (9.0 g/L h) and yield (90.5% of theoretical) similar to those observed for sugar cane juice.

Maturation curves of sweet sorghum genotypes

“…The RS in the cultivars BRS508 and CMSXS629 were above the established minimum starting from the third evaluation (14 DAF ). These results show a longer PIU than those found in a study conducted by Fernandes et al (2014) where the BRS 508 maintained sugar concentration greater than 80 kg t -1 (140 g L -1…”

Nutrient Changes and in Vitro Digestibility in Generative Stage of M10-BMR Sorghum Mutant Lines

“…There is no different in ash contents of leaves related to the mobile characteristic of nutrient at leaves which will be translocated to other parts of the plant to fill the grain (Atis et al, 2012;Fernandes et al, 2014). The ash content in this study was decreased with the increased generative stage.…”

“…In contrast to the stems and leaves, panicles experienced an increasing trend of CP. This trend can be due to the movement of nutrient content from stems and leaves to grain which associates with the increased maturity of the plant (Atis et al, 2012;Fernandes et al, 2014). In this research it was found that CP content at BMR sorghum mutant lines was higher than non-BMR sorghum mutant line.…”

Influence of Sowing Times, Densities, and Soils to Biomass and Ethanol Yield of Sweet Sorghum

“…As a C4 plant, it shows an impressive absorption of CO2 during its fast growth in 4-5 months [9][10][11]. The US, Brazil, Germany, India, and China have already produced ethanol from sweet sorghum, although the production is limited as compared to cassava, maize, and sugarcane [12,13]. It is well adapted to various types of soils and provides high production biomass production [14].…”