New fermentation organisms hold tremendous potential for the production of biobased fuels, chemicals, and materials from sugar feestocks (Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass, Vol 1, DOE, 2004). Novozyme's CEO Steen Riisgaard recently said 'in a few years sugar will be the new oil' as sugar is a superb feedstock for the production of platform chemicals. While leading projects have been announced in Brazil, several private-sector groups in the U.S. are pursuing development of new domestic industrial sugar feedstocks to supply the anticipated bioprocessing demand. Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and, in particular, sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) have been widely recognized as promising sugar feedstock crops because thay are amongst the plants giving the highest yields of carbohydrates per hectare and easily available. Sweet sorghum's easy cultivation from seed, low input requirements, and wide geographic suitability across the U.S., plus the current high price of sugar from sugarcane, have put more focus on sweet sorghum as a sugar feedstock. Typically, sweet sorghum has higher fiber and reducing sugar contents and a different impurity profile relative to sugarcane; these properties make extraction and processing more challenging, although there are some relative advantages as well. Three fundamental processing areas have been identified by industry for the large-scale manufacture of liquid biofuels and chemicals from sweet sorghum. These are (1) clarification of the raw juice that will make it suitable for concentration and/or fermentation; (2) stabilization of juice or partially concentrated juice for cost-effective seasonal use; and (3) concentration of the juice into syrup for storage, year-round supply, and efficient transport. The carbohydrate chemistry underpinning the development of commercially viable processing technologies of stable sweet sorghum juice and syrup feedstocks is complex and will be discussed in detail.

Carbohydrate chemistry underpinning the development of commercially viable processing technologies for the production of industrial sugar feedstocks from sweet sorghum and sugarcane

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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