Potential of developing sugarcane by-product based industries in India

Abstract

Sugarcane is grown in different countries since the middle of 19th century, primarily for the production of sugar. It was only after the Global Energy crisis of 1973, that the scientists' and technologists' realized the value of sugarcane, its byproducts and co-products. Today, sugarcane is considered as one of the best converter of solar energy into biomass and sugar. The biomass which contains fiber, lignin, pentosans and pith can be converted into value added products by application of suitable chemical, biochemical and microbial technologies. Sugarcane is a versatile crop being a rich source of food (sucrose, jaggery and syrups), fiber (cellulose), fodder (green leaves and tops of cane plant, bagasse, molasses and to some extent press mud),fuel and chemicals (bagasse, molasses and alcohol).Almost all the countries in the world which produce canesugar have realized that though the production of sugar from sugarcane is undoubtedly the most paying proposition, it is better to produce many value added products by diversification and utilizing the by-products of the sugar industry, instead of depending on just one product i.e. sugar(Paturau, 1982; Singh and Solomon, 1995; Godshall, 2004 ). The main by-products of the sugar industry which have greater economic value are: 1 Bagasse 2 Molasses 3 Filter Press Cake or Press Mud The sugar industry by-products are vast potential reserves for human and animal consumption as well as capable of providing energy as renewable source. The sugarcane and its by-products are useful raw material to over 25 industries; some important ones are shown in Table 1. Besides these byproducts, there are other products also which are of less commercial value, viz.,