Selection of energy cane clones

Rachel Soares Ramos,Lidiane A Silva,Reinaldo Francisco Teófilo,Luiz Alexandre Peternelli,Karla Gasparini,Bruno Portela Brasileiro,Marcio Henrique Pereira Barbosa,Volmir Kist,Camila Assis

doi:10.1590/1984-70332017v17n4a50

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this study was to select a population of sugarcane clones to develop energy cane cultivars. The genotypic means of 124 clones were estimated for the yield-related traits: mean number of stalks per plant (NS), mean stalk weight (MSW), fiber content (FIB), lignin content (LIG), and sucrose content in cane juice (SPC). From these data, the traits tons of cane per hectare (TCH), tons of fiber per hectare (TFH) and tons of lignin per hectare (TLH) were estimated. The clone effects were statistically significant (p <0.01) for all traits except TLH and LIG. Clone UFV09251 had the highest genotypic values for TFH and TCH. Clone UFV09270 had a high fiber content (15.04%) and clone UFV09225 a high sucrose content (14.05%). The correlation between TFH and TCH was high (0.89). Clone UFV09251 is highly promising as energy cane cultivar, for producing most TCH and FIB.

Highlights

On a global level, sugarcane stands out as a crop with a high potential sucrose production, which is widely used for sugar and ethanol
In this study, there were no significant effects of the clones for tons of fiber per hectare (TFH), tons of lignin per hectare (TLH) and lignin content (LIG), probably due to low variability in this population
tons of cane per hectare (TCH), NS, LIG, fiber content (FIB), and mean stalk weight (MSW) were most correlated with TFH and TLH. These results suggest that an increase in any of the yield components could increase lignin and fiber production

Summary

Introduction

Sugarcane stands out as a crop with a high potential sucrose production, which is widely used for sugar and ethanol. In recent years the potential of residues from industrial processing (bagasse, leaves and tips) was analyzed with a view to second-generation ethanol and cogeneration of electric power (Rípoli et al 2000, Santos et al 2012). Bagasse is a fibrous product resulting from the pressing of sugarcane for juice extraction (Rocha et al 2015). Sugarcane bagasse, consisting of about 50% water and 50% fiber (Ming et al 2006), high energy content (Waclawovsky et al 2010) and great energy efficiency potential (Santchurn et al 2012). Fiber is a complex material, containing 32 to 48% cellulose, 19 to 24% hemicellulose, 23 to 32% lignin and small amounts of ash and extractives (Siqueira et al 2011, Rocha et al 2012, Souza et al 2013)

Objectives

Methods

Results