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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Commodity Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #330937
Research Project: Developing Technologies that Enable Growth and Profitability in the Commercial Conversion of Sugarcane, Sweet Sorghum, and Energy Beets into Sugar, Advanced Biofuels, and Bioproducts

Location: Commodity Utilization Research

Title: Use of inexpensive vegetable oils to ensure the long-term stability of sweet sorghum syrups for the manufacture of bioproducts

Author
item Eggleston, Gillian
item Boone, Stephanie
item Wartelle, Lynda
item St Cyr, Eldwin
item Triplett, Alexa
item HECKEMEYER, MATTHEW - Heckemeyer Mill
item POWELL, RANDALL - Biodimensions Delta Bio-Renewables, Llc
item Wright, Maureen

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2017
Publication Date: 6/22/2017
Citation: Eggleston, G., Boone, S., Wartelle, L., St Cyr, E., Triplett, A., Heckemeyer, M., Powell, R., Wright, M. 2017. Use of inexpensive vegetable oils to ensure the long-term stability of sweet sorghum syrups for the manufacture of bioproducts. In: Proceedings for the Advances in Sugar Crop Processing and Conversion Conference, March 15-18, 2016, New Orleans, Louisiana. p. 204-226.

Interpretive Summary: Fundamental processing needs identified by industry for the large-scale manufacture of biofuels and bioproducts from sweet sorghum include the long-term storage of syrups with high solids content. Sweet sorghum syrup is vulnerable to surface microbial spoilage during storage. Three inexpensive, unsaturated vegetable oils namely soy bean, canola, and sunflower oil serving as surface sealants all preserved high solids syrups for up to one year, with 1.7 cm layers providing the most protection. On the other hand, soy bean oil (up to 0.5 cm thick layers) did not preserve 28 Brix syrups against severe microbial deterioration even over 7 days of storage, and other stabilization technologies need to be investigated.

Technical Abstract: Fundamental processing needs identified by industry for the large-scale manufacture of biofuels and bioproducts from sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), include the long-term storage of 65 Brix syrups for year-round supply, efficient transport, and acceptable end-product yields. Sweet sorghum syrup is vulnerable to microbial spoilage during storage and this represents a major technical challenge. The storage of pilot plant and industrial scale produced clarified syrups from sweet sorghum were evaluated. Three inexpensive, unsaturated vegetable oils were evaluated as surface sealants (0 to 1.7 cm depth layers) on 65 Brix sweet sorghum syrups, which were stored for 1 year at ~25 °C. Soy bean, canola, and sunflower oil sealants all preserved the 65 Brix syrups for up to 1 year, with 1.7 cm layers providing the most protection. In strong contrast, soy bean oil (up to 0.5 cm thick layers) did not preserve 28 Brix syrups against severe microbial deterioration and loss of fermentable sugars even over 7 days of storage, and other stabilization technologies need to be investigated.