Sugar Stability of Sweet Sorghum Exposed to Climate Controlled and Ambient Storage Conditions.

Historically, crop based ethanol has predominantly been achieved in the United States through starch-based and sugar-based conversions. With corn being one of the leading food and feed crops in the U.S. and sugarcane’s inability to adapt to U.S. production regions, Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) has been identified as a potential alternative biofuel feedstock. The objective of this study was to evaluate the stability of non-structural carbohydrates (sugar) present in sweet sorghum juice, by tracking the sugar degradation of Dale and M81E while exposed to extended periods of climate controlled and ambient conditions after peak sugar accumulation. The data from both genotypes indicated that sugar yields can be sustained for weeks without significant loses. The plants left in the field for the ambient treatment continued sugar accumulation until photosynthesis and transpiration halted, causing immediate loss in sugar.  While samples under the controlled treatment retained sugar yields for 3-4 weeks with minimal loses in yield, followed by steady reduction for the remainder of the evaluations. Results from this study reveal that sweet sorghum has the potential to be stored up to four weeks under climate controlled conditions of 5˚C and 51% humidity without significant sugar yield reductions, making it a suitable alternative substitute or complementary feedstock to current sugar-based ethanol refineries.