An assessment of after harvest sucrose losses from sugarcane field to factory

Abstract

Sucrose losses between harvesting and milling begin soon after cutting, increasing with the time the cane remains in the field or in the mill yards. The deterioration rate depends upon the environmental conditions, the cane variety and the management of the harvesting system. In addition, it has been established that leaves and trash also contribute to increase sucrose losses. Sucrose losses in chopped and whole-stalk cane were studied, using burned and nonburned cane of the commercial var. MZC 74-275. The sucrose lost in burned and nonburned whole stalks of all varieties while in the field ranged from 0.01–0.023% units of sucrose % cane per hour. Statistical analyses showed that for 1 % of trash in clean cane, there is an average sucrose loss of 2.0 kg/t of cane. Results of research conducted in Colombia indicated that mechanical harvesting of nonburned cane increased the trash in cane delivered to the factory, resulting in lower sugar yields. A commercial study of sugar losses from field to the sugar factory showed under Columbian condition, that 1.2 units of sucrose lost were observed for an average delay time of 40 hours after burning — cutting and milling, this loss tend to increase if more trash or extraneous matter were incorporated with the harvesting of cane. The establishment of reliable methodologies based on HPLC, NIR and microbiology analysis for estimating sugar losses and trash in commercial cane provided useful information for investment decisions to increase overall sugar yield in some sugar mills.