Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Commodity Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #292939

Title: New commercially viable processing technologies for the production of sugar feedstocks from sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) for manufacture of biofuels and bioproducts

Author
item Eggleston, Gillian
item Cole, Marsha
item Andrzejewski, Brett

Submitted to: Sugar Tech
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/7/2013
Publication Date: 8/1/2013
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/57275
Citation: Eggleston, G., Cole, M., Andrzejewski, B. 2013. New commercially viable processing technologies for the production of sugar feedstocks from sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) for manufacture of biofuels and bioproducts. Sugar Tech. 15(3):232-249.

Interpretive Summary: Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L Moench) has been widely recognized as a promising sugar feedstock crop for the manufacture of biofuels and bioproducts. A fundamental processing area identified by industry for the commercial, large-scale manufacture of liquid biofuels and bioproducts from sweet sorghum is the clarification of juice to make it suitable for concentration into syrup for long-term storage, year-round supply, efficient transport, and acceptable fermentation yields. This paper reviews and discusses recent developments of commercially viable processing technologies to stabilize sweet sorghum juice and syrup feedstocks for use in downstream fermentations for manufacture of biofuels and bioproducts.

Technical Abstract: Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L Moench) has been widely recognized as a promising sugar feedstock crop because it: (i) is among the plants giving the highest yields of carbohydrates per hectare; (ii) is easily cultivated from seed; (iii) has low input requirements and wide geographic suitability; and (iv) has huge breeding potential. One of the fundamental processing areas identified by industry for the commercial, large-scale manufacture of liquid biofuels and bioproducts from sweet sorghum is the stabilization and clarification of juice to make it suitable for concentration into syrup for long-term storage, year-round supply, efficient transport, and acceptable fermentation yields. This paper reviews and discusses recent developments of commercially viable processing technologies to stabilize sweet sorghum juice and syrup feedstocks for use in downstream fermentations for manufacture of biofuels and bioproducts.