UNIVERSIDAD PRIVADA ANTENOR ORREGO

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS AGRARIAS

ESCUELA PROFESIONAL DE INGENIERIA EN
INDUSTRIAS ALIMENTARIAS

SOME NOTES ABOUT SUGAR CANE

Fernando Rodrguez Avalos

Trujillo, 26 de agosto, 2015

Sugarcane, with its high fibre and

carbohydrate content, constitutes an
important renewable source of energy.
During its long growth period of 10 to
16 months, this plant converts good
amount of solar energy into sugar and
cellulose and is considered to be one of
the most energy efficient crops, in that
the energy provided by the biomass of
fully grown cane is four times the energy
input during the crop cultivation.

Sugarcane sets are planted in soil and

the plant, during its life cycle, converts
water and CO2 from atmosphere into
carbohydrates in the presence of
sunshine, a phenomenon termed as
photosynthesis

In the growth phase of the plant, sugar

accumulation occurs more in the lower
portion of the stalk, progressively
decreasing from bottom to top joints, but
in a fully mature cane, this disparity is
practically absent or negligible. Within
the stalk, the internodes are richer in
sugar while the fibre content is higher in
the nodes as shown by the earlier studies
on variation in composition of these
portions. This difference in composition
accounts for two observations:


Cane with short internodes will give
high fibre and lower sugar content.
The juice expressed in the last mill
under heavy pressure is of lower
purity than the first or second mill.

Sugar cane plant standing in the field

consists of three principal portions:
1) The leaves,
2) the tops, and
3) the stalk.

The tops and leaves contain very low

sugars, but are rich in salts in solution
as well as water. The sugarcane stalks
delivered to the factories have to be free
from the tops and roots and as such
during harvesting, care is taken to
remove them so that the sugar rich
portions of the plant are processed.

The principal components of the cane

stalks, to be processed for commercial
sugar production, are:
1) around 70-75% water
2)12 -15% water insoluble fibre and
3) sucrose and other carbohydrates.

Besides these the composition of juice

extracted from cane is marked by
varying amounts of mineral salts and
organic compounds. The composition of
sugarcane is conditioned by the variety
of cane, soils and agricultural factors,
in addition to the climate during the
different phases of growth of the plant.

At the end of its growth period, the

sugarcane crop reaches maturity,
during dry weather, marked by highest
sugar build up, when it is considered to
be suitable for harvesting. If allowed to
stand in the field after its maturity
phase, it starts deteriorating in the
sense that sucrose gets decomposed
with the formation of nonsucrose
compounds and cellulose.

The overmature cane will thus build up

higher fibre with reduced sugar content
and it is absolutely essential for the
processing factories to harvest the cane,
after it attains full maturity.

Sugars, in general, are known as

carbohydrates being formed of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen. Simple sugars
like glucose, fructose, and others, are
monosaccharides which cannot be
further
decomposed
into
simple
carbohydrates by either acids or
enzymes. When composed of five carbon
atoms
these
carbohydrates,
like
arabinose, are termed as pentoses.

Likewise sugars like glucose, fructose

containing six carbon atoms are known as
hexoses.
Monosaccharides
condense
together to form disaccharides or even
trisaccharides containing two or three
monosaccharides. Sucrose, maltose and
lactose
belong
to
the
category
of
disaccharide, which under influence of acid
or enzyme form simple monosaccharides.
Sucrose is the condensation product of
glucose and levulose or fructose, the first
being an aldehyde while the latter a ketone.

Several polysaccharides produced by

condensation of monosaccharides, are
present in sugarcane like gums,
dextran, starch, cellulose, which when
reacted by acids or enzymes are
converted to monosaccharides.

The major components of sugarcane,

besides water are as under:
Sugars
(a) Sucrose
Commonly known as sugar, in the
popular parlance. this is the major
constituent of sugarcane and belongs to
the family of carbohydrates. The
chemical formula for sucrose is
C12H22O11.

Structure. Structurally the sucrose is

represented as -D-glucopyranosyl--Dfructofuranoside. The configuration of
sucrose
and
its
two
main
monosaccharides is as under:

Following are some physical and

chemical properties of sucrose, which is
basically a disaccharide:
(i) Molecular weight, 342.3.
(ii) Density of 26% solution at 20 C is
1.108175.
(iii) Melting point is 188 C, but it
decomposes on melting.

(iv) Soluble in water and ethanol. The

saturated solution in water, at 20 C,
contains 67.09% sucrose by weight, and
in ethanol, at 20C, 0.9% by weight.
(v) Sucrose is optically active and
specific rotation of normal solution (26
g/100 mL) is +66.53 at 20 C, but on
inversion the solution has optical
rotation of -39.7 at 20 C.
(vi) Crystals of sucrose are monoclinic
prisms with density of 1.588 g/mL).

(a) Chemical
(i) When heated to 200 C, the sucrose
loses water forming brown coloured
compound, known as caramel.
(ii)
Sucrose
on
treatment
with
concentrated nitric acid is transformed
into oxalic acid:

In its pure form, this sugar is crystalline

in nature. Sucrose content in fully
mature cane ranges from 12-15%.
Under conditions of low pH or under
influence of certain enzymes, like
invertase, sucrose is hydrolysed into two
monosaccharides: glucose and levulose,
in equimolecular proportions according
to equation:

(iii) When concentrated sulphuric acid is

added to it, sucrose is charred with evolution
of C02 and SO2.
(iv) Sucrose reacts with hydroxides of
calcium, barium and strontium to form the
corresponding sucrates:

Sucrates or saccharates are decomposed by

passing
C02
through
the
aqueous
suspension.

(b) Glucose
Also
known
as
dextrose,
this
monosaccharide has a chemical formula
C6H12O6.
The
two
major
monosaccharides, glucose or dextrose
and fructose or levulose, are present in
higher amount in the immature cane
but their percentage decreases as cane
reaches maturity.

In a sugarcane plant the presence of

glucose and levulose is more marked in
the cane tops than in the middle
portion of stalk. Glucose is sensitive to
alkaline condition and heat undergoing
decomposition under action of heat and
alkali to form coloured compounds. It is
less soluble in water than sucrose. The
major physical properties of glucose are:

(i) Empirical formula, C6H12O6

(ii) Molecular weight, 180.2
(iii) Anhydrous glucose crystals are rhombic,
with density of 1.544 g/cm 3, and melting point of
146 C.
(iv) Glucose is soluble in water and ethanol. The
solubility, at 30 C, in water is 57.6% in a
saturated solution.
(v) Glucose is dextrorotatory and, in solution,
specific rotation changes on standing a
phenomenon known as mutarotation. On
reaching equilibrium, the glucose solution has a
specific rotation of 52.7 at 20 C.

(c) Levulose.
Levulose or fructose, a levorotatory
monosaccharide, is present along with
glucose in the growing portions and
tops of cane more than in the main
stalks. The empirical formula of
fructose is the same as for glucose i.e.
C6H12O6.

Out of the two monosaccharides, i.e.

glucose and fructose, the proportion of
fructose is less than that of the former.
It is highly soluble in water but less
soluble in ethanol and, at 30 C, the
saturated solution of fructose contains
81.54% of this sugar. The physical
properties are as under:

(i) Molecular weight 180.2.

(ii) Specific rotation -92.4, at equilibrium.
(iii) Crystal structure-orthorhombic with
density of 1.598 g/cm3 and melting point of
105 C.
Fructose has a ketonic group in its structure,
unlike glucose which has aldehyde group.
Being highly susceptible to heat and alkaline
conditions it gets decomposed under these
conditions. Like glucose fructose reduces
cupric salts.


Starch.
Starch
is
formed
by
condensation of glucose molecules and
is present in cane juice in small
amounts the percentage depending on
the cane varieties as also soil and other
natural conditions. Varieties like NCO
310 contain high amount of starch (300
mg/L) in juice and in South Africa
sugar cane of any variety is reported to
contain high starch.

The starches which are polymers of

glucose consist of a chain polymer to
the extent of 20% known as amylose
and remaining about 80% branched
polymer,
amylopectin.
Starch
is
insoluble in water but its fine granules
are extracted in mills and during
heating of juice it gets partially
dispersed in juice.

During clarification, it is only partially

removed and if the original starch
content in juice is high (250-350 ppm),
serious problems are encountered at
both clarification and crystallisation,
since the sucrose crystallisation is
hampered by the presence of starch.
The amylose fraction of starch exerts
depressing effect on the filtration rate.

Presence of starch beyond a certain

concentration (50-100 p.p.m) in raw
juice creates problems in the process
operation and special treatment of juice
is resorted to for decomposition of
starch. Starch is soluble in hot water
and unless its level is significantly
brought down in juice the filtration and
sucrose crystallisation are adversely
affected.

Consequently, the factories producing

crystal sugar prefer to process varieties
low in starch content. In case, however,
it is unavoidable to deal with cane of
high starch content, it is eliminated by
adopting special technique of juice
clarification or use of bacterial enzyme.

Fibre. This water insoluble portion of the

sugar cane plant is present in
abundance
and
forms
important
component of sugarcane along with
sucrose. The principal constituent of the
cane fibre is cellulose and the complex
fibrous structure of the plant is bound
together
by
lignin,
pectin
and
hemicelluloses.
The
cellulose
is
composed of chain of glucose molecules
held together closely with varying
degrees of polymerisation.

Other organic polymers. Gums in

sugarcane composed of six different
monosaccharides, are soluble in water
but insoluble in acidified ethyl alcohol.
Though removed in the process to some
extent they persist till the final stage
and are present in molasses and to
some extent in sugars.

Another polymer of significance is

dextran consisting of glucose molecules
and is produced by the bacteria
Leuconostoc mesenteroides, which is
highly dextrorotatory with specific
rotation of +199 at 20 C.

Frozen cane or harvested cane left over

in field or factory without processing for
long period are often found to contain
high amount of dextran which, unless
eliminated in the first stage of
processing,
creates
difficulties
at
crystallisation, contributing to high loss
of sugar in manufacture.

In milling, dextran formation is

observed in stagnant pockets of cold
juice and special bactericides have to be
sprayed to check the growth of the
Leuconostoc bacteria. In the process,
dextran can be decomposed by use of
enzyme known as dextranase.

Organic
acids
and
nitrogenous
compounds.
Cane juice is acidic in
nature with pH of 5.0-5.5. Stale,
immature or frozen cane yields low pH
juice with high amount of free acids. Out
of the different organic acids aconitic
acid claims the major share in the juice
from normal cane. Deterioration of cane
after harvest or due to natural causes
results in generation of acetic acid, lactic
acids etc.

A number of amino acids and amides

have been identified in cane juices like
aspartic acid, glutamic acid, alanine,
valine, etc. Aspargine is the most
dominant amino compound.

The proteins in cane are extracted to

maximum extent in the last one or two
mills where cane is squeezed under
high pressure with application of hot
imbibition water. These are mostly
eliminated in clarification. However, the
amino acids are unaffected by the
treatment
in
clarification
and
accumulate in final molasses.

Colour forming compounds and pigments.

Natural
pigments
like
chlorophyll,
xanthophyll and carotene present in the
cane plant are extracted in milling but are
eliminated in juice clarification and
subsequent boiling operations. However
organic
compounds
like
polyphenols,
flavonoids, which give rise to coloured
products in the process of manufacture
resist elimination during clarification.

Presence of Polyphenols is more marked in

the tops and immature portion of sugarcane
and they give rise to coloured compounds
with ferric ions and are found to create
problems in settling of juice when the
percentage of phenolic compounds exceeds
certain limits. To maintain low level of
phenols it is essential to top the canes
properly before in the fields at the time of
harvesting.

Inorganic compounds. Sugar cane plant

during the period of growth absorbs various
minerals from the soils, which are partly
dissolved in water and to some extent are
present as organic compounds. Prominent
among them are anions phosphates,
sulphate, chlorides and cations like silica,
Iron aluminium, calcium, magnesium,
potassium and sodium.

Maximum inorganic matter is found in

juices from immature cane tops
gradually decreasing to the lower
portion of the plant. This makes it all
the more necessary to avoid milling of
cane tops. These salts are extracted in
juice and only partially removed by the
normal clarification methods followed in
factories as for instance in juice rich in
phosphate
after
clarification
the
phosphate level is brought down.

The potassium which forms major

constituent of the mineral matter of the
cane juice persists throughout the
process getting accumulated in final
molasses. The anion chloride also
remains unaffected by the clarification
or juice concentration and is found in
final molasses.

The mineral matter content in cane

juice depends primarily on the nature of
soil, as well as, manurial practices and
high concentration of minerals in juice,
is responsible for high loss of sugar in
molasses.

Lipids. Sugarcane outer surfaces are

coated with waxy lipids which are
discernible on the rind of the cane stalk
as whitish coating. The fatty lipids and
wax are extracted in milling to the
extent of nearly 40-50% and are
eliminated in the filtermud during
clarification. These lipids consist of a
mixture of alcohols, free acids and
esters

Crude wax extracted from filtercake

contains, resins and soft portion or oils
apart from hard wax. The dude wax content
of dry filtercake usually varies from 8-12%.
Wax extraction from the filtermud separated
in clarification is being commercially
operated in some countries in view of the
potential offered by this product for use in
other industries where other vegetable
waxes are being used.