Abstract
A major constrain for sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) establishment as a reliable biofuel feedstock is the fast biomass degradation immediately after harvest due the high content of soluble sugars and their rapid fermentation that considerably decrease the actual ethanol yield. Such a drawback does not allow storing of sorghum for a reasonable period forcing the industry to process it immediately with consequent problems of handling, logistic, and plant size. Therefore, an appropriate harvesting and storage technique to prevent sweet sorghum juice degradation is urgently needed to ensure economic benefits to farmers. An efficient and cost-effective way to overcome this obstacle could be an on-farm storing system of undistilled ethanol from sweet sorghum juice, while the remaining bagasse could be ensiled and exploited for complementary energy generation. The objective of this study was to evaluate different harvest methods and storage techniques aiming to a low cost and efficient on-farm processing systems to store sweet sorghum biomass. Harvesting in the hard dough stage and defoliating the plants before juice extraction resulted in higher ethanol yield. The use of commercially available fructophilic yeasts allows maximizing undistilled ethanol yield and on-farm storing for about 1 year without spoilage. The residual bagasse was ensiled and inoculated with Lactobacillus bacteria commonly used in forage conservation which significantly improved its quality as feedstock for biogas fermenters. In conclusion, the integration of low-cost harvesting and storage techniques with the valorization of sweet sorghum by-products are worthwhile management strategies to be further developed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Zegada-Lizarazu W, Monti A (2012) Are we ready to cultivate sweet sorghum as a bioenergy feedstock? A review on field management practices. Biomass Bioenergy 40:1–12. doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.01.048
Rutto LK, Xu Y, Brandt M, Ren S, Kering MK (2013) Juice, ethanol, and grain yield potential of five sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) cultivars. J Sustaina Bioenergy Syst 3:113–118
Smith G, Bagby M, Lewellan R, Doney D, Moore P, Hills F, Campbell L, Hogaboam G, Coe G, Freeman K (1987) Evaluation of sweet sorghum for fermentable sugar production potential. Crop Sci 27(4):788–793
Smith G, Buxton D (1993) Temperate zone sweet sorghum ethanol production potential. Bioresour Technol 43(1):71–75
Guiying L, Weibin G, Hicks A, Chapman K (2000) Training manual for sweet sorghum. FAO Bangkok, Thailand
Schaffert R, Gourley L Sorghum as an energy source. Sorghum in the Eighties: proceedings of the international symposium on sorghum, 2–7 November 1981, ICRISAT Center, Patancheru, AP, India., 1982. pp 605–623
Broadhead DM (1969) Sugar production from sweet sorghum as affected by planting date, after-ripe harvesting, and storage. Agron J 61(5):811–812. doi:10.2134/agronj1969.00021962006100050048x
Broadhead DM (1972) Effect of planting date and maturity on juice quality of Rio sweet sorghum. Agron J 64(3):389–390. doi:10.2134/agronj1972.00021962006400030039x
Tsuchihashi N, Goto Y (2004) Cultivation of sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) and determination of its harvest time to make use as the raw material for fermentation, practiced during rainy season in dry land of Indonesia. Plant Prod Sci 7(4):442–448
Wu X, Staggenborg S, Propheter JL, Rooney WL, Yu J, Wang D (2010) Features of sweet sorghum juice and their performance in ethanol fermentation. Ind Crop Prod 31(1):164–170. doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2009.10.006
Bludau DA Harvest and storage of sweet sorghum. 5th E.C. Conference biomass for energy and industry. Volume 1 Policy, Environment, Production and Harvesting, Lisbon, Portugal, 1990. pp 1260–1266
Eiland B, Clayton J, Bryan W (1983) Losses of fermentable sugars in sweet sorghum during storage. Trans ASAE (American Society of Agricultural Engineers) 26(5):1596–1600
Lingle SE, Tew TL, Rukavina H, Boykin DL (2012) Post-harvest changes in sweet sorghum I: Brix and sugars. BioEnergy Res 5(1):158–167
Day D, Sarkar D (1982) Fuel alcohol from sweet sorghum: Microbial aspects [Sorghum bicolor]. Dev Ind Microbiol 23:361–366
De Mancilha I, Pearson A, Waller J, Hogaboam G (1984) Increasing alcohol yield by selected yeast fermentation of sweet sorghum. I. Evaluation of yeast strains for ethanol production. Biotechnol Bioeng 26(6):632–634
Bryan WL, Monroe GE, Caussariel PM (1985) Solid-phase fermentation and juice expression systems for sweet sorghum. Trans ASAE 28:1:268–274
Gibbons WR, Westby CA, Dobbs TL (1986) Intermediate-scale, semicontinuous solid-phase fermentation process for production of fuel ethanol from sweet sorghum. Appl Environ Microbiol 51(1):115–122
Laopaiboon L, Thanonkeo P, Jaisil P, Laopaiboon P (2007) Ethanol production from sweet sorghum juice in batch and fed-batch fermentations by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 23(10):1497–1501
Kundiyana DK, Bellmer DD, Huhnke RL, Wilkins MR, Claypool P (2010) Influence of temperature, pH and yeast on in-field production of ethanol from unsterilized sweet sorghum juice. Biomass Bioenergy 34(10):1481–1486
Muck RE (2010) Silage microbiology and its control through additives. Rev Bras de Zootec 39:183–191
Kundiyana DK (2006) “SORGANOL®”: In-field production of ethanol from sweet sorghum. Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma, p 132
Unlimited D (2008) Technical data sheet. DSM Food Specialties. www.dsm-oenology.com / www.dsm-foodspecialties.com. P.O. Box 1, 2600 MA Delft -The Netherlands
Unlimited D (2006) Technical data sheet. DSM Food Specialties. www.dsm-oenology.com / www.dsm-foodspecialties.com. P.O. Box 1, 2600 MA Delft -The Netherlands
LALLEMAND, Inc. (2006) Fermentazione malolattica del vino, Montréal, Canada
Centro di Ecologia Teorica ed Applicata, CETA (2011) Diffusion of a sustainable EU model to produce 1st generation ethanol from sweet sorghum in decentralised plants. Intersectorial Manual. CETA, Cormons (Gorizia) - Italy
Funk P, Armijo C, Hawkes G, Libben J (2012) Cotton thermal defoliation economics. J Am Soc Farm Manag Rural Appraisers 75(1):29–42
Sütterlin KA (2010) Fructophilic yeasts to cure stuck fermentations in alcoholic beverages. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch. Institute of Wine Biotechnology, Faculty of AgriSciences. pp 186
Tronchoni J, Gamero A, Arroyo-López FN, Barrio E, Querol A (2009) Differences in the glucose and fructose consumption profiles in diverse Saccharomyces wine species and their hybrids during grape juice fermentation. Int J Food Microbiol 134(3):237–243
Mateo J, Jiménez M, Pastor A, Huerta T (2001) Yeast starter cultures affecting wine fermentation and volatiles. Food Res Int 34(4):307–314
Tabacco E, Piano S, Revello-Chion A, Borreani G (2011) Effect of Lactobacillus buchneri LN4637 and Lactobacillus buchneri LN40177 on the aerobic stability, fermentation products, and microbial populations of corn silage under farm conditions. J Dairy Sci 94(11):5589–5598. doi:10.3168/jds.2011-4286
McDonald P, Henderson A, Heron S (1991) The Biochemistry of Silage, 2nd edn. Chalcombe Publications, Marlow, UK
Kleinschmit D, Kung L Jr (2006) A meta-analysis of the effects of Lactobacillus buchneri on the fermentation and aerobic stability of corn and grass and small-grain silages. J Dairy Sci 89(10):4005–4013
Vervaeren H, Hostyn K, Ghekiere G, Willems B (2010) Biological ensilage additives as pretreatment for maize to increase the biogas production. Renew Energy 35(9):2089–2093. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2010.02.010
Herrmann C, Heiermann M, Idler C (2011) Effects of ensiling, silage additives and storage period on methane formation of biogas crops. Bioresour Technol 102(8):5153–5161
Neureiter M, dos Santos JTP, Lopez CP, Pichler H, Kirchmayr R, Braun R Effect of silage preparation on methane yields from whole crop maize silages. In Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Anaerobic Digestion of Solid Waste: 31 August-2 September 2005; Water Sci Techn., Copenhagen, 2005. pp 109–115
Acknowledgments
The present study was funded by the EU Project “Sweet sorghum: an alternative energy crop (SWEETFUEL)”—FP7-KBBE-2008-2B.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zegada-Lizarazu, W., Monti, A. An Integrated Approach to Harvest and Storage of Sweet Sorghum at Farm Scale. Bioenerg. Res. 8, 450–458 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9533-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9533-6