Temporal and varietal variation in sugarcane post-harvest residue biomass yields and chemical composition

Abstract

Sugarcane is the world’s largest biomass crop. Extraneous leaf material, also known as post-harvest crop residue, represents a significant resource for use as a biomass feedstock by bioenergy industries. Information on temporal and varietal variation in sugarcane post-harvest crop residue is limited. Therefore, residue collected every two weeks during two harvest seasons from three commercial sugarcane varieties were analyzed for biomass quantity and quality. Residue biomass yields exceeded 3.5 t ha−1 y−1. When averaged over the two years and across the three varieties utilized, lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and ash content of residue were 4.7, 36.0, 31.5, and 0.7 %, respectively. Variety affected biomass, lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and ash yield, indicating there is some genetic variation in residue. Variability in lignin concentration was greatest; but, the overall concentrations in sugarcane residue were low. Both yield and quality changes over time within a season were consistent with the three varieties investigated in this study. Thus, harvest scheduling for sugarcane can be focused on varieties with the greatest sucrose concentration knowing that residue quality is stable across varieties.